


PoTA Whumps 2019

by MackDreamer



Category: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Movies)
Genre: (mentioned only) Teen Pregnancy, Abandonment, Abuse, Also Stripe from Revelations!, Betrayal, Bittersweet, Blackmail, Cancer, Character Death, Death, Depression, Euthanasia, F/M, Forced Abortion, Forced Marriage, Implied non-detailed childbirth, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Loss, M/M, Male Victims, Memory Loss, Missing, Murder, OC's too!, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Torture, Physical Abuse, Plot change, Poisoning, Pope from the Dawn comics is here too!, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Self-Harm, Slavery, Suicidal Thoughts, Whumptober 2019, You're all gonna hate Colonel McCullough when this is over!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-04 16:11:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 31
Words: 22,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21200450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MackDreamer/pseuds/MackDreamer
Summary: Hi guys! I'm new here so I thought posting my Whumptober one-shots would be a good first start here. Each one-shot comes with their own warnings so you'll know which is which. Enjoy!





	1. Shaky Hands

Description:  
What if the stress of being prince was secretly too much for Blue Eyes? 

WARNING: 

This oneshot contains scene's of anxiety and/or panic attacks. If this triggers you don't read it!

~~~~~~~~~

Blue Eyes couldn’t sleep, not with his heart pounding and his head hurting.

He sat outside of the tree he and his parents lived in. Breathing in the night air in desperate hopes that it will make him feel better. As far as he knew, he was the only one awake…That’s good…That meant that if he got sick for real, no one will see him vomit… 

This was the third time in a row…It’s happened before, but never at night. 

It seemed to come out of nowhere when his body attacks him. When invisible hands grab his throat and his insides do flip flops as the rest of him shakes uncontrollably. The first time it happened, he was alone and getting ready to go hunting. He had to convince his father he wasn’t feeling well (which wasn’t completely a lie) so he could go home. The second time was during a meeting with the council. That time, he felt like he was going to get sick! He was just lucky no one noticed him sneak away when Rocket and Luca got into a small argument. 

He didn’t actually throw up but the very thought of doing so in front of, not just his father but also, his honorary uncles, Ash, and the entire colony was his worst nightmare. He didn’t think he could show his face in the village again if that happened. 

Blue Eyes swallowed as he placed a shaky hand over his mouth, as if willing whatever force to stay down. 

The crickets that were everywhere were barely a comfort. All they did was make his headache worse. Making him feel sicker. 

Why can’t everything just shut up? He wished as he started rocking without realizing it. 

Confined by his worries, Blue Eyes could do nothing but let the anxiety take over him. Feeling tears fill up his eyes as he stared at the ground. Waiting. Dreading.


	2. Explosion

Description:  
After the beating at the dam, Koba's rage comes out. (Hinted Caba)

No warnings apply to this one shot.

~~~~~~~~~~

He held it in. From the moment Caesar swiped his palm at the dam, to the time the sun went down. He had even managed to keep it buried and hidden when he talked to Blue Eyes. No hint at all of the pending storm raging within him.

But the second Koba was alone in his home and saw _it_…The bearskin Caesar had given him just a few days ago…He lost it.

He stared at it, trembling, at first…But then, the scream that had been growing in him erupted from his throat and all the anger and the hurt exploded from him. It was all he heard, all he felt. It came to life in his fists as he swung his arms down at the already dead bear. Violently pounding and ripping it apart.

Fur, limbs and chunks of skin went flying but he was too blinded by his rampage to notice.

_How could you, Caesar?!_

The images flashed through Koba’s mind. Images of Caesar…Of how he freed him-no, _saved_ him. All the years of their friendship…Their brotherhood…How much…How much Caesar _meant_ to him…Did it not mean anything to Caesar?! Did he not _care_ enough to see how scared he was?! How bad it still hurt?!

Did Caesar ever care at all?!…Did he ever…_Love_ him at all?!

Tears burned his eyes as they broke free. Temporarily giving Koba a minute to see what he had done.

The bearskin, the gift from his Caesar, was destroyed. Torn up and broken by his own anger…The rage was gone…Melted by the sight…Now all that was left was the hurt.

Shaking, Koba fell to his knees and picked up the only part of the bearskin that wasn’t completely ruined by his explosive anger…The head, though it’s ears were missing. He carefully brought the decapitated bearskin head to his face and cried. More for himself than for what he just did.

The bearskin suffered his wrath but it was a substitute for the real source of his rage. It never betrayed him or ignored him…

Unlike Caesar.

Koba had loved Caesar since the very moment he saw him freezing apes at Gen-Sys. He loved him for his strength, his courage and his compassion. But more than that, Caesar represented freedom. He gave Koba hope, and something to believe in.  
He knew Caesar would never feel the same for him. Why would he? He had Cornelia and Koba was fine with loving Caesar from afar.

He could live with seeing Caesar and Cornelia grow old and have grandchildren together while he’d die a lonely, old ape with only his secret love as his companion. He had too much respect for them to let it show.

But he couldn’t stand the thought that Caesar would let humans stay-that he’d actually have apes _help_ them-and completely disregard how much they had hurt him! Caesar, of all apes, **should** have known that!

…Maybe…Maybe his Caesar, his dearest love…Wasn’t as strong as he thought he was…

The very compassion that Koba loved him for appeared to have blinded Caesar…His love for humans was more than the love he had for the apes. The explosion they had at the dam only proved that to Koba.

He just wished Caesar had killed him. Let him die with his love for the Ape King in his heart. That way, he wouldn’t have had to see the horrible truth.

All Koba could do now was mourn for the, now dead, love he had for Caesar as he held the remains of the gift that symbolized the ruined brotherhood. Slowly rocking back and fourth as he did.

He cried until he couldn’t cry anymore. His heart now as empty as his blind eye. No more love for anyone.

Koba’s thoughts drifted to the guns he and Stone and Grey found earlier…The guns Caesar didn’t know about.

_If Caesar doesn’t care…Why should I care about him?_

At that moment, Koba knew what he was going to do. It’ll hurt him too, but Caesar had to pay for putting him in so much pain.


	3. Delirium

Description: What if there was a reason why Buck was isolated from the other apes? A reason that didn't involve his size or him being a gorilla?

WARNING: This one-shot contains a Blood Test scene.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on, you. Time for your test.”

The older human was back with the younger one behind him. Buck hated it when they came.

“Put that down, don’t rush him!” The older human barked at his son.

“But he’s not getting-“

“He’ll get up, it’s just hard for him sometimes.”

Buck slowly got up and moved closer to the two humans. Obediently sticking his arm out for the older human to wrap the strap around it. Like always, he looked away as the human stuck the needle in his arm.

This was nothing new. Roughly every other month, the older human would visit him and take his blood. He was used to it, though that did nothing to settle his hatred of it.

There was silence while the old human worked. After a moment, he gently pulled the needle out of the gorillas harm and bandaged the area.

“Do all the animals have to have that?” The younger human was glaring in disgust at the glass that contained the blood.

“Just him. It’s actually the reason why he’s separated from the other apes.”

“You mean he’s sick?”

“No but he was many years ago. Don’t remember the specifics but he basically was neglect and dehydrated by his previous owner. He had a serious Urinary Tract

Infection by the time they found him.”

Buck, his arm free of the needle, went back to his spot and laid back down. Wondering if there were something wrong with him. He certainly didn’t feel sick, just a  
little sleepy from being woken up so late.

Still, something bothered him…

“But he’s better now so why does he have to have blood tests?”

The older human frowned at his son.

“What? I just don’t want to have to do it.”

“…The UTI was serious enough to weaken his immune system.” The older human went on.

“The blood tests are just to make sure his kidneys are healthy.”

“But don’t you also have to get a urine sample?”

“Why do you think I brought you here?”

Ignoring them, Buck shut his eyes. Trying to recover any images that hid in his mind. Most of the time, he felt like he had always been in this cage. As if he spent his whole life away from other apes and being poked with needles by the elderly human.

But deep down inside, Buck knew he wasn’t always alone.

It was vague and hard to make out, but an image of some sorts appeared. A blur of two gorillas looking down at him.

_Were they…Where they his parents?…Why did he feel so sick?_

One of them touched him. Stroking him. He felt a muzzle rub against his head.

_Mother?_

Buck reached up to touch her…Only to feel his own fur. He opened his eyes to an empty cage.

His parents weren’t there.

The humans were arguing about something but he was ignoring them now. Too lonely and sad to pay attention. Closing his eyes again, Buck felt a tear roll down his cheek.

He was alone…Forgotten…But he still remembered what it was like to be loved.


	4. Human Shield

Description: What if Nova didn't get the chance to escape? What if the soldiers and the Colonel saw her before Rocket could save her?

WARNING: This one-shot contains major character death and plot change.

~~~~~~~~~

_“Apes together strong!”_

Did she even know what that sign meant? Or how important it was? Caesar couldn’t tell but clearly Nova understood it meant something to him.

It proved one thing to Caesar. That Nova was, and truly, ape. Even if she wasn’t born into their species, she was one of them.

His smile suddenly fell as the sound of the soldiers coming startled him. First he heard their voices, then their footsteps.  
Coming closer…!

Nova desperately looked around for a place to hide-too late!

“Hold it right there!”

“Stay where you are!”

“Put your hands up!”

They all shouted at once. Nova, looking like a dear in headlights, froze. Her parka kept her covered, but her heart had to be pounding.  
Caesar was on his feet now. He attempted to break the cage wall so he could get out and protect her but he was still very weak from being on that cross for so long and the cage was much stronger than he was.

He realized in horror that he…Could do nothing…But watch helplessly.

Two figures appeared then, the Colonel with Red following. Behind his glasses, the bald human stared at the girl with, what could only be assumed to be, surprise.  
Nova’s eyes went from the Colonel, to the gun in his holster.

All she knew about this man was that he was, what Bad Ape would say, bad…So were guns…_This_ was a bad place.

McCullough frowned at the girl. There were no human children in the base. If there ever had been, they were long gone. Where did this kid come from? And with seemingly no adults with her, how could she have come here?

“Who are you?” He asked, keeping his voice low.

Caesar felt a pit growing in his throat. Remembering how the Colonel killed his own son. A human who was infected…Infected, with the very thing that Nova had…

Nova didn’t answer him. She _couldn’t!_

Caesar’s heart started to beat faster. He glanced at the soldiers, most of which had their guns pointed at the girl with cold-blank expressions. Only two people aside from him and the apes watched on with different looks.

Preacher was trying to hide it but his horror and dread were taking over his features. He had seen the Colonel do things before…Bad things…To the infected…He had to have known what was about to happen next.  
Red, meanwhile, looked more confused than anything else. Glancing from the girl to Caesar and back again. Not yet understanding the situation. Caesar could only assume him and the other Donkey’s weren’t there if and when the Colonel killed human children.

“Hey!” The Colonel tried again. “Answer me when I’m talking to you!”

He was willing to give the girl a chance. Children weren’t exactly known for their people skills. He was open to the idea that maybe the girl was just being defiant. She looked to be somewhere between eleven to twelve, give or take, so that behavior wouldn’t be unusual.

Only _one _chance though…Just one.

When she didn’t answer him, he slowly pulled out his gun and pointed it at her, more as a test than a threat.

But Nova interpreted it as a threat…A threat to Caesar.

Not breaking eye contact, her features changed into a frown of her own. Despite the soldiers shouting at her, she slowly moved her arms down.

Now she stood like a scarecrow…A defensive pose…Defending Caesar!

_No!_ Caesar’s mind screamed. _Don’t protect me! Run!_

A couple of the soldiers started to lower their guns in silent, confused surprise. They weren’t expecting that.

Preacher’s wide eyes were darting from McCullough to the girl in a panic while Red’s heavy eyebrows were raised.  
Nova had not said a word but her defending Caesar spoke louder than any words could have…She had just, inadvertently, showed them that she knew him…_Cared_ about him.

McCullough, now pointing the gun at both of them, looked at Caesar suspiciously. “Who is she?” He demanded.

The Ape King’s heart was practically racing while his stomach did flip flops. He didn’t know how nor wanted to answer that question yet somehow the words: “Please! Don’t…Hurt her!” found their way out of his mouth.

He didn’t expect Preacher to suddenly say-or rather, stutter-something. “S-Sir? M-Maybe we should just-“

But he was too late…McCullough made up his mind.

Before anyone could stop him, he point the gun-not at Caesar, but at the girl. And pulled the trigger.

“NO!”

The sound was quickly followed by many others. Nearly all the soldiers were emptying their guns into Nova. The only other sound was the screeching from the other apes. Caesar jumped back into the wall of his cage, horrified at what he was seeing but unable to look away.

Nova now laid on the wet, snowy ground. Blood pouring out of her. Her lifeless eyes open, gazing at nothing…Dead.

The apes were still screeching loudly. The soldiers began to bang on the gates to silence them though the Donkeys appeared to be just as frightened and in shock as the imprisoned colony.

“Take her body and burn it! Get rid of it and anything else that may have been contaminated! If anyone starts showing symptoms, you know what to do!” The Colonel barked, giving the orders as if they meant nothing.

“Sir!” Preacher, who was shaking, ran over to him. “She was just a child! We didn’t have to-“

“She was infected!” The Colonel yelled at him. “Worse than that, she chose the ENEMEY over HUMANITY! She deserved to die!” With that, he left with some of the other soldiers.

Caesar stared at Nova’s body until a blanket fell over her and she was taken away. Heart still pounding, he glanced at the soldiers as they moved. The Donkeys hesitated before following.

Only Preacher and Red stayed. Preacher looking close to tears while the look on Red’s face confirmed Caesar’s earlier suspicions. He wondered if Red and the other traitors would have joined the Colonel at all if they knew he’d kill children from his own species.

Preacher was the first one to look at Caesar. In a, what sounded like, apologetic voice, he whispered only seven words “I hate it when he does this.” before leaving.

Red watched the young soldier leave before also looking at Caesar. Staring at him for a long moment until he finally sighed and followed after Preacher. It was hard to know if the turncoat gorilla felt any remorse for Nova’s death but he clearly didn’t agree with the Colonel’s choice to kill her.

Alone again, Caesar felt hot tears build up in his eyes for the human girl. He remembered how he was so ready to abandon her when he and the others discovered her. How frightened and pitiful she was.

That same girl…Saved his life by getting him food and water…And then she became his human shield…And now, she’s gone…Murdered by The Colonel…Just like his beloved Cornelia, and Blue Eyes, and Percy, and Spear and…So many others…

His tears of anguish gave way to burning hatred as the same fire he felt when the Colonel killed his wife and son was reborn.

He had to get the apes out of here. He had to save them all…And the Colonel…The Colonel had to pay for this!

He was going to kill that human…For Cornelia. For Blue Eyes…And for Nova, who had always belonged in the colony.


	5. Gun Point

Description: Malcolm goes to talk with the Colonel

No warnings apply to this one-shot (I think we all know how this plays out, it's basically Malcolm's 'final' thoughts).

~~~~~~~

Malcolm knew this was probably the worst idea he’s ever had, and even more crazier than when he went out to talk to Caesar.

_If it worked once, maybe it’ll work again he thought with hope._

He snuck out while Ellie and Alex were sleeping, leaving only a note behind telling them of his plan…And his final goodbye, should things turn sour. He hoped it would not come to that but knowing his wife and son were safe gave him peace. _Sorry Ellie…Sorry Alex._

Slowly, in a non-confrontational way, he approached the two soldiers guarding what looked like the entrance of the ship.

“Halt! Put your hands up!” They yelled as soon as they saw him.

Malcolm obeyed and put his arms up. He purposely came without a weapon, or any personal items. Nothing but the clothes on his back. He stood still as the two walked over to him, pointing their guns at him.

One of them patted him down while the other circled around him. “Who are you?”

“Malcolm.”

The guard that was patting him down looked at his partner. “He’s unarmed.” He confirmed.

The other nodded and returned his unfriendly glare at the intruder. “What’s your business here?”

Malcolm, in a very calm and steady voice that didn’t give away the pounding in his chest, answered: “I wish to speak to your leader. I have information about the apes.”

That got their attention. Next thing Malcolm knew, one of the guards was leading the way while the other followed behind him. Not pointing his gun at him but still holding it in his hands.

His plan was simple, or so he hoped. Tell the Colonel about his encounter with Caesar and the apes and tell him about the ape-the one named Koba- who had started the war and try convince him that the apes weren’t the enemy. Reason with him. Just as he had done with Caesar in the village and like how he tried with Dreyfus.

Though that attempt, sadly, failed…Making him feel like he was flipping a coin here. Heads he succeeds, and tails he fails again.

But surely a man whose fought for the country before could be reasoned with. Surely a man who fought for the good of humanity would still believe in humanity. Even in times of war and battle, they could still be human-right?

They led him to a door. The leader knocked and then opened it, leaving Malcolm outside with the other guard.

_Funny._ Thought Malcolm. _I’ve spent the last ten years fearing the apes. Now here I am, trying to protect them._

As the door opened again and he was allowed inside, he wondered briefly if what he’d tell the Colonel would be enough to save Caesar and his colony. To save those innocent people who may not be human, but are no different than them.

Malcolm didn’t think he and his family got to spend enough time with the apes to be considered part of their colony but as he laid eyes on Colonel McCullough for the first time, he could only think of one thing. One phrase that perhaps only an ape from the colony would know.

“So…You came to talk about the apes, eh?” The bald man was sitting in a chair. The exhaustion and faint smell of alcohol on his breath indicated a lot of things had already happened in San Fransisco since he left. A lot of fighting, death and murder, had happened.

“What do you got to say?”

_Apes Together Strong!_


	6. Dragged Away

Description: "You're lucky they didn't put that animal down." - Court Clerk, Rise. What if they had chosen to do just that?

WARNING: Major Character death (hinted only) and major plot change.

~~~~~~~~~

They took him…They hooked that pole’s hoop around his neck, and they just…Took him away...Like some dog.

Will could still hear the echoes of his and Caroline and Charles shouts and yells and Caesar’s cries as they dragged him out of the door and into that van. The van that would take him…To be…To…

Some officers stayed to keep them at the house and another was in front of his car. Caroline and Charles couldn’t follow but Will had managed to slip out of the officer’s reach as he chased after the van on foot.

“CASEAR!!! CAESAR!!!”

He could only scream his name, hearing the frightened chimpanzee scratching and banging around inside.  
Screaming for his father.

If he was Superman, Will would grabbed the doors to that van and free Caesar. If he was the Hulk, he would have destroyed the vehicle. If he could control time, he’d prevent this whole thing from happening.

But Will was no superhero. Only a human. A powerless, helpless human.

A human, who couldn’t save his son.

Despite his best efforts, he just couldn’t keep up with the van. His body began slowing down, his lungs aching for air as he watched in despair as the van drove away with Caesar’s cries still echoing from it.

Tears filled his eyes, knowing he will never get to see or hold him again.

This was the solution for the young ape’s attack on the neighbor. Will would pay his medical bills and for car repairs, Charles would be forcibly sent to a nursing home and Caesar…Caesar would be…Put down.


	7. Isolation

Description: What Cornelius was thinking and feeling when the children were separated from their parents by the soldiers.

No warnings apply to this one-shot.

~~~~~~~~

The pen was full of crying children. Their wails and sobs reaching far beyond the gate, heard by all in the base. Human and ape alike.

Their parents, mommies and daddies, locket up and chained in their own pen. Unable to comfort their frightened children…Unable to protect them from the monstrous humans who imprisoned them.

There were apes that were free. The young ones would call to them, beg them to help them get to their parents. Or at the very least, pass the message to their mothers and fathers that they loved them.

But these apes, much to the children’s confusion, ignored them. Walked right by them without a glance or acknowledgment of their cries. For they were the ones who wore the DONKEY words on their backs and the AO branding on their temples.

They belonged to the soldiers. Loyal to them…They will do nothing to help the children.

Eventually, the children figured this out and stopped asking for help they’d never get. Even so, it didn’t stop them from staring at the one gorilla and the many chimps and bonobos every time they walked by. The Donkeys might not care, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have many, small eyes burning holes at them.

At least most of the children’s parents were both still alive. Injured, exhausted and starving maybe, but alive.  
Cornelius had no one.

The young prince was sitting in the far corner of the pen, isolating himself from the others. If his parents and brother were here, he would be among the many children pressing against the bars of the gate and reaching their hands out. The closest to their parents they could get.

But _his_ mother was already gone. So was Blue Eyes…And his father?…He didn’t know…

Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought about him…About how he _left_ him…Mother and Blue Eyes may be gone, but they didn’t _leave_ him screaming and begging for them to come back and stay with him.

Lake was all he had between then and when the humans took them. She wasn’t Mother but she made him feel safe and loved all the same.  
Whenever he asked for his father, she’d tell him he’ll come back.

_“When?”_ He would ask.

_“Soon.”_ Would be her answer.

Now with no one but those words from the past to comfort him, it was all Cornelius could hang on to. The only thing that gave him hope.

So there he stayed. Tears staining his face, waiting. Waiting for the one and only ape that could stop all of this while the other children formed a wall of their own at the gate. Isolated and alone, continuing to cry for their parents.


	8. Stab Wound

Description: Luca thinking about the two gorillas who betrayed the colony and reflecting on the past.

No warnings apply to this one-shot.

~~~~~~

_How could they do this? Why didn’t I see this in them?…How could I have missed it?_

He was thinking about the two turncoat gorillas. Red and Winter. Even though he had lost all care and respect for the two, Luca could still feel the anger and the hurt burning in his stomach.

_How could it have come to this?_

The two had never previously shown any signs of treachery. Winter being shy and unsure of himself and Red keeping to himself with usually not much to say. Sure they had their flaws, no one’s perfect after all. Winter was never one for bravery, and Red wasn’t known for being friendly, but Luca never dreamed they’d fight for the enemy over their own people.

Maurice _taught_ them in his class. Some of the ape army members _played_ with them as children. They practically _grew up_ with Blue Eyes, Ash, and Lake. They had been_ born_ and _raised _into the colony…They had been _part of _the colony…Part of the people…

_What went wrong?_

Luca itched the back of his head in concentration, thinking back to simpler times.

Winter’s father had died before he was born and his mother, while loving and affectionate towards him, was very proud of the legacy her husband had left and wanted her son to follow in his footsteps…Could it have gone to her head?…Did Ursula put her expectations of her son over his needs?

_Was that it, Winter? _His mind asked. _Was the pressure to be just like your father too much?_

If that were the case, Luca doubted he could have done anything to change Ursula’s mind but even if it were those expectations that broke him, Winter would have chosen what kind of Gorilla Guardian he wanted to be when he grew up. But even then, Ursula’s expectations may have been unfair, but it was Winter who ultimately chose to betray the colony.

_Coward. _Thought Luca angrily.

He knew very little about Red’s childhood, mostly because he kept a lot of it to himself. What little Luca did know about the rusted furred gorilla’s background wasn’t at all good. Like Winter, Red’s father had died and his mother was overbearing…Only worse. Darcy was later banished by Caesar and then chased away by Rocket and a couple others. Luca had never talked about it with Red, but he wondered if that day was the root of the young gorilla’s hatred of Caesar.

_Was that your excuse Red? Is that why you followed Koba in the first place?_

Abuse damages people, Luca and all apes knew that. Koba and all the other apes who had ever been abused by humans would always carry the scars from it. But none of them turned against each other because of it. Even Koba, possibly, wouldn’t have turned against Caesar had the humans not have reappeared.

Despite himself, Luca couldn’t stop himself from wondering if he could have done something…If he had talked to Red, let him know he didn’t have to hang on to all that anger, would that have changed anything?

He felt like he knew the sad answer…But it was still hard not to think about it.

With a sigh, he pulled the reins on his horse and followed Maurice and Rocket to go after  
Caesar.

Whether or not any of this could have been prevented didn’t matter. Winter and Red betrayed him and the colony, leaving gaping stab wounds in the hearts of all who had once known and cared about them and in the minds of the Ape Council.

Now they are left to deal with the consequences of their treachery. With Cornelia and Blue Eyes dead and the colony in danger, nothing would stop Caesar from killing the Colonel…But what if his revenge extended to the traitors? Would he kill Red or Winter or the other apes who followed Koba for their betrayal?

_Ape not kill Ape…But Ape kill Traitor?_

Luca wasn’t sure if he liked the thought of that.


	9. Shackled

Description: What if the Colonel's plans had changed? What if he had Preacher and Red bring Caesar to him for a different reason? Inspired but the Colonel Mccullough x Caesar Shipping!

WARNING: This one-shot's plot centers around forced marriage and the word 'sex' is written here but it's mentioned and is not seen or put in detail.

~~~~~~~

Needless to say, the arrangement was…Not what Caesar expected…When he set out to hunt the Colonel for revenge, he didn’t think anything more would happen other than killing him…

Boy was he wrong.

A soft groaning yawn woke him up, followed by a shift in the bed. The _human _bed.

After leaving the safety and comfort of the cozy human home he grew up in, Caesar thought he’d never wake up in a human bed again. Let alone, a bed that was owned by his worst enemy…Well, that’s pretty much where he found himself in…

He flinched when he felt the human’s lips make contact with his cheek. “Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Came the sickeningly sweet voice of his tormentor.

Colonel McCullough.

“Have any good dreams?”

Caesar refused to look at him. _Any_ dream would be better than THIS nightmare.

After that scene outside, with Percy being whipped and then killed, McCullough had Caesar brought to his quarters…Where he offered the deal…McCullough would let the apes live-still keep them as slaves but just not kill them. IF Caesar agreed to marry him!

Caesar wasn’t sure if he’d heard him right. He had glanced at Preacher and Red, who were the ones to bring him to the Colonel, only to find that the young soldier and turncoat gorilla looked just as shocked and dumbfounded as he was. Almost horrified, in fact.

This wasn’t the original plan.

“And if you refuse.” The Colonel continued on, gaining Caesar’s attention again. “I’ll kill your apes. And then, I’ll kill you.”

He was being blackmailed…There was nothing he could do.

He accepted. And now, he regretted it.

When Caesar didn’t say anything, McCullough took the hint. “Still adjusting, huh?” He grabbed the shackle from the nightstand and attached them to Caesar’s ankles. The Ape King didn’t flinch or fight him.

Taking Caesar with him, McCullough walked toward to the kitchen area.“Hope you like coffee.” He said as he guided Caesar to the table and sat him down in one of the chairs.

Caesar only sighed and rested his head on his hand as he place his elbow on the table.

As much as he hated the arrangement, and himself for agreeing to it, living with the Colonel was an upgrade compared to sleeping outside on the cold snow covered ground in the pen. An even bigger one when compared to being strung up on that cross.

But at least in that pen and on that cross he was with his apes and not with the Colonel twenty-four seven…At least then it wasn’t so complicated being in the base…

Now Caesar wasn’t sure what was happening anymore.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. “You wanted to see us, Sir?” Preacher asked hesitantly with Red behind him.

Neither of them looked anymore comfortable than Caesar was.

Ever since that night of the agreement, Preacher made a point to avoid eye contact with Caesar. He could only assume the young soldier was in total disbelief over the whole thing.

Oddly enough, Red’s demeanor changed too-slightly. The rusted fur gorilla still hated Caesar and still gave him dirty looks. But that didn’t stop him from glancing at Caesar and then at the cot, and back at him with his thick eyebrows raised. Secretly asking ‘he’s not having sex with you, is he?’

Even Red was disturbed by all of this. After all, how could an ape be enforced to marry a human? The very idea of such a thing went against everything apes knew and felt about the hairless creatures.

Caesar’s response to Red’s silent question would always be a simple shake of his head.

That was the only saving grace of this agreement. McCullough had, so far, never done anything further than kiss his cheek.  
He hoped it would stay like that.

Caesar heavily doubted Red would do anything to help him if the Colonel did take it further. He likely couldn’t without facing serious consequences even if he wanted to.

Still, it was weirdly comforting to know that this wasn’t what Red wanted when he joined the AO soldiers. That this wasn’t what he agreed to when he became a Donkey. That this wasn't his idea of getting revenge.

“Yes.” McCullough replied as he picked up a coffee mix. “I want you two to round up the ape children and bring them here”

Caesar’s heart began to race.

“so Caesar and I can pick one or two to adopt as our own.”

Silence fell in the room as the words sunk in.

“Uhh…Wh-What?” Preacher was in total disbelief.

Red’s mouth was agape. His shocked eyes met Caesar’s horrified ones.

Most apes didn’t know the phrase ‘Oh my fucking God’ or ‘OMFG’ but it’s facial expression wasn’t universal to just humans. That was the very look the turncoat’s face now held.

McCullough, either ignoring the looks or not noticing them, poured boiled water into the coffee mix. “Caesar and I both lost our wives and our sons. Now we have each other but no children.”

_MY son…MY wife…Are dead because of you!_ Caesar felt like he was going to throw up. Thinking about how he was now married to Blue Eyes and Cornelia’s murderer.

“Seeing as their parents are all…Preoccupied, I see no problem in us raising a few as our own.”

Preacher and Red only glanced at each other, neither of them knowing what to do or say about this. “Sir…Are you sure about this?” Preacher finally asked, choosing his words carefully.

McCullough shrugged. “Course I am.” He poured the finished coffee into two cups. “Though ideally, I’d chose a human child over an ape but they’ll just have to do.”

Caesar swallowed hard as he tried to comprehend what was happening. First the Colonel wanted him to marry him…Now he wants them to have and raise children together?!…He felt a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

What if _Cornelius _was dragged into this?!

“Now, go get them.” McCullough waved his hand at them, almost as if he was shooing them away.

Realizing there was no reasoning with the Colonel, the young soldier and treacherous gorilla could only do as they were told and leave. Closing the door behind them.

Caesar didn’t notice the human approaching him until the cup of coffee was placed in front of him, startling the Ape King out of his shock.

“I’m going to go get dressed.” McCullough picked up an extra chain and shackles. “Just to make sure you stay out of trouble.” He trailed off as he put one shackle on Caesar’s wrist and the other on the table leg.

After assuring himself that his ‘chimp wife’ could not escape, he smiled an empty smile at Caesar and kissed his brow. “Enjoy your coffee.” He said before taking his own cup and leaving him there.

Finally left alone, Caesar released the tears from the confines of his eyes and quietly sobbed.  
Letting the tears fall into the hot coffee.

How did he get into this?! What did he agree to?!

He wasn’t a slave like his people were, but he was still a prisoner…Just, in a different way…He wasn’t shackled to a chain of other apes, just…Metaphorically and physically, shackled the _the Colonel_.

Caesar can protect the apes with this marriage…But how can he protect his son and the other ape children?…And how can he protect _himself_?


	10. Unconscious

Description: What if Malcolm and his group never came to the forest at all and Cornelia died from her illness?

WARNING: This one-shot depicts major character death and plot change.

~~~~~~~~

“Wake up.”

She didn’t respond.

“Wake up.” Caesar begged in a shaky voice. He put his hands on her shoulder and jumped back.

Cornelia was cold. Colder than she should be. When he looked at her face, she-! She looked so pale! Her lips…Her eyes…Unnaturally blue…

No! She can’t be dead! “C-Cornelia-!” He chocked, still refusing to believe what was so obvious in front of him as he shook her. “Please! Wake up!”

Cornelius’ birth was hard but it was made worse when the queen got sick…She had died that  
night…while she and Caesar slept together.

Blue Eyes, who was sitting in the corner holding his little brother, was shaking as he watched. His face was already wet with tears of his own. “F-Father!” He growled in a fit of anguished rage. “Stop! Sh-She…She dead!” A sob broke loose as it began to sink in to the young prince that his mother was gone. “…She dead…”

“No!” Yelled Caesar in a breathless sob of his own.

Cornelia…His beloved wife and queen…_Can’t_ be dead!…She’s only unconscious…! She’s just very sick and needs to rest right now! She’ll wake up eventually, she has to!

But Caesar felt his heart sink into his stomach as he too slowly began to realize…Or accept, the truth. He nuzzled her face one last time in defeat and despair.

Cornelia was gone.

At least she had died with her husband and sons hear her…In the safety of their nest.


	11. Stitches

Description: Charles remembers his wife.

No warnings apply to this one-shot.

~~~~~~~

It was a day just like any other, or it did at first. Will had not yet gone to work, as Charles could smell pancakes being made downstairs.

As he climbed out of his bed, a pillow fell and landed on the floor. He frowned at it as he reached down to pick it up and examined it carefully.

The fabric was a light pink, dusty rose, color with a quilted heart shape in the middle. It looked and felt handmade.

That heart...It had different patterns and fabric pieces in its construction. One pattern was white with roses and dots on it on cotton fabric while another pattern was of a Christmas themed Snoopy ridding a sled.

Some had to have been pajama fabric, but others were everyday clothing fabric.

Where did he get this from?

He got his answer when he turned it over. Hand-stitched into the back, read_: Sweet dreams, my dearest Charles. Love, Mary-Anne._

_…Mary-Anne?..._

More confused than before, he got up from the bed and made his way downstairs. Pillow in hand. “Will?”

“Hi, Dad!” Called Will from the kitchen as Charles journeyed down the stairs. “Want some pancakes?”

Charles ignored the question and asked one of his own as he approached Will. “Will, what’s this?”

Will blinked at the pillow before looking at Charles. “It’s Mom’s pillow. The one she made for you.”

Caesar was watching the exchange at the table, licking the syrup off his hand as he did.

Frowning again, Charles glanced back at the pillow in his hands before looking back at Will. “Your mother…I have a wife?”

“_Had_. You _had_ a wife Dad.” Will’s eyes fell on his father’s hand. “You’re still wearing your wedding ring.”

Charles looked at the golden metal on his finger, saying nothing. Will wondered if he forgot he was wearing it at all. Even when he was a young boy, he had never seen his father take it off or without it. It was as if the ring was a part of him, though he assumed that was the case for everyone who gets married. The ring becoming akin to flesh and bone.

“Mary-Anne.” Charles mumbled.

“Yes.” Will replied.

“Where is she now?” He asked, looking at Will again.

Caesar, now curious, glanced at his adoptive father as well.

Will let out a long sigh. He didn’t like thinking about his mother…Those last years were the beginning of the end for his parents and their normal lives. “She died in 2003, Dad…Of Breast Cancer.”

The words left a weird feeling in Charles’ chest and stomach before…It happened.

“Dad?” Will asked when Charles didn’t say anything.

But Charles didn’t answer. He just turned around and went back to his room. Once inside, he dug through his box of music books until he found what he was looking for. He stared at the music sheet that hadn’t seen the light of day in, what felt like, a lifetime.

_This was her song..._Our _song._

He placed the crumpled, old, sheet on the piano and set the pillow down next to him as he started to play.

As the music started, he was there again. He was suddenly back in college, on the day he met the girl with big glasses and that beautiful smile. He remembered the first time they said hello, and then their first date. He remembered how he fell in love with her and how he proposed to her. Their wedding day, their honeymoon, the first apartment they lived in before moving into their house, the day she told him she was pregnant, the moment Will was born, raising him together, sending him off to college...

It all came back to Charles with each stroke of the keys.

The beautiful life he and Mary-Anne had together.

_His _lovely Mary-Anne. He remembered_ her_ too.

Her almond hair, her bright brown eyes, the smile that could brighten any day.

Her favorite color was yellow, because it made her happy and reminded her of summer. Her favorite hobby was sewing and dancing to whatever was on the radio. She wasn’t very good at cooking, but she knew how to make a great pasta salad and any kind of pie.

She had dreams of seeing the word. Of visiting every state and every country and experience everything she could.

Charles’s playing grew faster as he remembered the time she convinced him to go skydiving, and that other time they went scuba diving-and how could he forget how she used to make him go on every ride in any amusement park they went. Oh how that used to drive him crazy, but he had so much fun with her wherever they went.

Mary-Anne was, to Charles, the physical embodiment of life and joy. She was as adventurous and vivacious as she was loving and gentle.

...And so brave...

The music began to slow down as Charles remembered..._Those _years.

The first time Mary-Anne was diagnosed with the Cancer, and then had to have surgery before she went into remission. Then the second time, when she had to go through Radiation...And then the last time, when they said she was terminal.

That same year, he was diagnosed too...Not with Cancer, but with Alzheimers.

Will had to move back into the house to take care of them both, Mary-Anne became bedridden and Charles had that accident that resulted in him being unable to drive. It was just a hard year for them all.

But Mary-Anne, oh his beautiful Mary-Anne, refused to let it take away what she had left. She never lost her smile, or her joy. Even without hair and a sickly pale replacing her pink skin tone, she looked beautiful.

“How can you be happy when our lives are over?” Words, _his_ words, from a different time repeated themselves in his mind.

“I’m still happy...Because I got to spend my life with you.” Her voice! “It doesn’t matter if I die now, the memories you and I created together will always be here.”

“But what if I forget about you?”

Charles felt a tear roll down his cheek.

“You never will. Just as I will never leave you.”

Her words stayed in his mind for a while, even after he played the last note. Charles, now teary eyed, looked at the pillow. Slowly, he picked it up and stared at it again.

Now he recognized the patterns for what they were. Some were his, and others were hers. Their old clothes.

He ran a hand on the stitches, feeling a sad smile grow on his face as he felt her love in each stitch she made.

Carefully, he hugged the pillow. Feeling as if he were holding his wife again.

_Oh Mary-Anne, I miss you._

Charles thought about the years after his wife’s death. How Will had been staying with him ever since. Life still wasn’t easy, but they managed. Their family wasn’t broken but it wasn’t the same either. It just changed.  
Caesar.

Charles dried his tears as he sniffled. Deciding right then and there to get the photo albums to show the young chimpanzee. Tell him about his adoptive grandma, and how she would have loved him.

_Maybe we’ll have one of her pies tonight too._


	12. Don't Move

Description: Will was left with a choice in Rise. What if he had chosen the other option?

WARNING: The one-shot depicts major character death and plot change.

~~~~~~~

_Be my guest._

The words haunted Will as he stared at the syringe, weighing the few options that he had.

Jacobs ordered the euthanasia of all apes involved in the A112, and all were already dead…

Except this one, tiny, baby.

Jacobs believed the A112 to be defective. Even if this baby ape wasn’t dangerous, the fact that Bright Eyes had passed down the drug meant his boss would likely order him to be euthanized anyway.

Was it even worth it? A newborn ape won’t last long without it’s mother and even if it were allowed to live, Will couldn’t let this tiny thing live a life of suffering in this lab. Maybe some would be fine with it, but he wasn’t one of them.

Gulping, he slowly placed the baby down and reached for the syringe.

_It’s for the best._ His mind told him. Out loud, he said to the little chimp: “Don’t move, little guy...You’ll be with your mother soon.”


	13. Adrenaline

Description: What kind of trauma did Maurice experience in the circus?

No warnings apply for this one-shot.

~~~~~~~

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Mario’s Traveling Circus!”

Maurice’s ears ached with the many loud sounds the humans made. He shifted uncomfortably in his cage, looking for a place to hide.

“Don’t you dare.” A painted faced human barked at him. “Unless you want the whip, you stay still!”

He stared at the man, confused by the white, red and blue paint that covered his skin. Some humans looked like that for the show, but others didn’t. They never painted his face or any of the other animals but they usually had to wear funny or weird clothes. They made Maurice wear a shirt with white and black stripes, black pants that barely fit him, something that covered his right eye and a weird, boot-like shoe on his left foot.

His role for tonight’s show was, what the humans called, a pirate.

The man who had been watching him went out on stage with several other painted-faced humans as funny music played. Just like always…First comes the painted humans, then him.

The music never failed to fill him with dread. If the training wasn’t bad enough, performing was worse.

Every time they forced him to step foot onto that stage, it reminded him of how his father had died…Burned alive, through that hoop.

Suddenly, his cage was pulled forward as the curtains lifted. _His_ turn. The humans who sat all around him were screaming, showing their teeth. Some were throwing what looked like popcorn and various human foods he couldn’t recognize.

Maurice could feel his adrenaline pumping as the door to his cage opened. Sealing his possible fate…The same fate he faced every show…Ending up just like his father.

His eyes darted to the many humans surrounding the stage-at the ones that were the most closest to him. _“Help me! Help!”_ He signed desperately to them.

They didn’t respond. They _never_ did. Few humans new what he was saying. Those that did, didn’t care and ignored him.

Help wouldn’t come.


	14. Tear-Stained

Description: What was Red's life like before the war?

WARNING: This one-shot includes mentions of teen pregnancy and depicts suicidal thoughts. If either of these things trigger you, don't read!

~~~~~~~~

_“We should have never adopted him.”_

_“You don’t mean that.”_

_“Yes I do. He’s more trouble than he’s worth.”_

They were talking about him. He wasn’t surprised.

Over the years, Red developed a talent for pretending to be a asleep so he could read their signs without them knowing. All he had to do was lay still in his bed and breathe as if he were sleeping. The darkness that came with nightfall made this easy...Though it was never easy to see what they argued about.

_“Mathis, please. You know what he’s been through-“_

_“That’s no excuse for what he does, Faira. He’s defiant, impulsive, irresponsible, he lies constantly, he’s manipulative, he’s aggressive. He’s just trouble is what he is!”_

Red frowned at the older male’s signs. Of course he’d say that. That old gorilla criticized everything he did or said. No matter how small it was. Red swore the guy was out to get him...He was also sure Mathis hated him. But he was fine with that because he hated him too.

Both Mathis and Faira were old. Almost old enough to be his grandparents...But they weren’t. They weren’t his parents either. It had to be obvious, Mathis had light black fur with grey and white furs around his face and muzzle while Faira had pale brown fur. Their children, Lorelei-who was the same age as him-and the oldest  
Attar, looked like them-though Lorelei’s stupid face and Attar’s poo-eating smirk were unique only to them. None of them had rusted fur, or the shade of green in their eyes that Red possessed.

No. They weren’t his family. They were his _adoptive _family.

_“I didn’t say it was an excuse!”_ It was rare for Faira to be be mad. She wasn’t as easily angered as her husband was but it wasn’t hard to see when she was mad._ “I’m just saying he needs more time-“_

_“Time? We’ve had him since he was a child! He’s a teenager now, almost a young adult! He should have been over it by now!”_

_“Mathis, his mother abused and neglected him and then she was banished from the colony! Do you really think a child can just ‘get over’ something like that?!”_

Now they’re talking about his mother. Red shut his eyes, not wanting to see it.

Red only had a vague memory of his mother. What he remembered was the sunken eyes, the raw sores from when she picked and bit at her lips and her face. The sad, given up expression she always had. Despite what she did to him, Red knew what happened to his mother wasn’t fair. What humans did, wasn’t fair.

From what Faira told him and what other gorillas from the zoo in the city said, his mother-Darcy- and his father were forced to mate by humans. They were only teenagers when he was born. This is heavily disliked in the colony with most of the apes against it due to most teenaged female apes and their babies often dying or  
getting very sick as a result of it.

Red supposed he and his mother had been lucky. They survived...Though Red did get sick a lot when he was a baby and his mother…She got sick in a different way.

His father wasn’t as lucky. He died during the escape from the city, killed by the humans. Red had no memory of him at all. His mother never told him what his name was. Too angry and too traumatized by the whole thing, he guessed.

Opening his eyes, Red found his adoptive parents glaring at each other.

_“If you’re done, we can keep talking about what happened today.” Faira signed without blinking._

Uh oh, here it comes.

Mathis sighed, still angry. _“What’s there to talk about? Red beat up Lorelei again.”_

_“And _who_ was it that started that fight?”_

_“See what you’re doing? You’re taking his side over your own daughter!”_

_“You and I both know the children have never been kind to Red! You just won’t admit it!”_

Red felt his fur bristle, despite his attempts to hide it. Lorelei and Attar weren’t as bad as his mother, but they weren’t any better either. The things they’d call him…Those words that cut deep within him. They barely ever called him by his name. Only as ‘Vomit Head’ and all those insults…

…Freak…

…Ugly…

…Gullible…

…Fat Ass…

The list just went on. Lorelei did most of the insults and verbal assaults while Attar usually tried to get him into trouble. Anything he knew he could blame Red for, he’d do it and make it look like the younger gorilla did it.

They hated him. Just as much as Red hated them.

Today was no different. Once again, Lorelei threw horrible words at him and Attar blamed him for the whole thing. Except this time, they went too far. Lorelei told him he was worthless and no one would care if he died.

It made Red snap, and he had attacked her…Admittedly, if Attar hadn’t ran for Mathis and Faira, Red could have easily broken Lorelei’s nose.

_“So what if they bully him? He needs some toughing up! And it doesn’t excuse his behavior either!”_

_“There’s a difference between an excuse and an explanation! And how is it supposed to toughen him if he’s already damaged?!_

He couldn’t take it anymore. Slowly, trying not give himself away, he turned his back to their conversation. He didn’t need to see his adoptive parents confirm what he already knew.

He didn’t belong with them. He never did. The only reason he was part of their family at all was because of Faira’s sympathy but even if she did have any feeling for him, there was only so much she could do for him. Mathis saw him only as a burden and a loss cause. He cared only about drilling Red with respecting the very ape that banished his mother and forcing obedience and respect from him. Even if he didn’t deserve such things from Red.

And Lorelei and Attar didn’t consider him their sibling. They didn’t see him as a person either. He was just their plaything, their punching bag.

The worst of all of it was he had no one else. His biological father was dead, his biological mother was thrown out of the colony that should have helped her and…No one else…No grandparents, no aunts or uncles…No one…Not even a single friend…

…No one wanted him…No one _loved _him…It all just made Lorelei’s words that much truer.

No one would care if he died.

Red didn’t even realize he was shedding tears until they stained his face. He let them, too tired and too broken up to care.

Red didn’t trust anyone with his feelings. Years of belittlement and verbal abuse did that to him. It was easier to burry it all in, keep it hidden with his lies and manipulation. That way, no one can see how much…How much he wished that…That he was never born.

He had never attempted it, but suicide was never far from his mind. His existence was forced on teenaged gorillas who weren’t ready for the responsibility of raising a child by humans. He wasn’t wanted by his own parents, let alone by his adoptive family…And he had never once felt loved or safe through it all.

Red HATED his life…More than anything or anyone else, he hated being alive.

Trying to suppress the whimpers that seemed to escape out of him, Red imagined what would likely happen. At some point, Mathis will be so sick of him he’ll disown him and Faira won’t be able to stop him…And then, he’ll be homeless…Orphaned again…He could still live in the colony, but did anyone really care?

Sniffling, he thought about the possible ways he could…End it all…From sharp rocks to the wrist, to steeling loose rope for hanging…It wouldn’t be too hard to do either way…

Red dried away the drops from his tear-stained face as he forced his eyes to close. Wanting to just go to sleep and leave everything behind.

But sleep would not come easy…It _never_ did.


	15. Scars

Description: Koba's spiraling flashbacks of his time in labs.

WARNING: This one-shot depicts scenes that include blood and needle, and past trauma. If any of these trigger you, don't read!

~~~~~~~~~~

Koba liked to think of himself as strong…But _feeling_ strong was another thing.

The _straps_ that had tide him down were far stronger than him…So was that thing the humans put on his _mouth_. The thing that won’t let him close it...And those _sharp_ knives, the ones the humans used to _cut _his skin and muscles…And Tommy’s stick…The one that _hurt_ him when he did something wrong…  
He sat on on the ground, slowly rocking as the images flashed though his mind. His blind and lone good eye staring straight ahead in a wide, terrified gaze at relived traumas.

Something hit him in the face-he smelled oranges, then he saw blood…Was it his blood?! Or Mother’s?!

_Mother!_

Koba saw her for a brief moment. Bleeding, and reaching her arm out towards him. He started to run towards her but something hit him and text thing he knew, he was strapped down on the table again.

A human held a needle to his eye…Bringing it closer and closer until!

Koba screamed. He screamed louder than he ever had. Loud enough to shatter glass. He didn’t care if anyone heard him. He didn’t care if his screaming woke the apes. He screamed until his throat hurt and his lungs ran out of air.

Only then did he stop his screaming…But he was not at peace.

He covered his eyes with his hands, as if protecting them from the needle he just saw. Rocking wildly with fright.

Koba liked to think of himself as strong. But his scars, the scars that covered his body and haunted his mind, were much _stronger_ than he was.

No amount of strength could make the pain go away.


	16. Pinned Down

Description: Pope has his own demons.

WARNING: This one-shot contains past trauma. If this makes you uncomfortable, don't read!

~~~~~

It was no secret in the colony that Pope hated humans. Like most lab apes, he had good reason and no one blamed him for his hate…But unlike Koba, no one knew _how_ Pope was hurt. He never told them, and he never will.

Pope made sure no one would know how those filthy humans destroyed his body. How they _disfigured _him!

How they…They…!

…He was pinned down on a table…Staring up into a mirror on the ceiling…He knew it was him, but he _wished_ so badly that it wasn’t him…His wide, forced-open, eyes watching helplessly as the humans stuck needles into his neck…Tubes, wires…And his face-His shoulder…! His skin! The bloodied marks that criss-crossed his opened and raw wound!

The pain! _That_ pain!

Much of the memory was suppressed, parts of it missing and the rest being too small to fully make out. But the memory was strong enough to make Pope sick every time it showed itself in his mind.

He felt his body react before his mind did. In seconds, he was on the grassy ground. Dry heaving and emptying his stomach. This always happened, but Pope was grateful that no one has ever seen it before…And that it provided a distraction for his mind to reset.

Some memories were best hidden…Never to see the light of day again…

With one last cough and a whimper, the ordeal was over with his face wet with tears.

_No one_ can see him like this…_No one_.


	17. Stay With Me

Description: What if Caesar, Luca, Rocket, Maurice and Nova never made it to the base? What if the snow was too strong for them?

WARNING: This one-shot contains major character death and plot change.

~~~~~~~~

It was worst cold they had ever felt. It chilled them to the bone. Snow clinging to their fur and piercing their eyes with an icy sting.

But they kept going. _Refusing _to stop…But it was a losing battle.

Their vision was now only a blur off snow and trees. They couldn’t even tell anymore what was land and falling snow.

_We have to keep going…Keep going…_

Caesar held on to that thought harder than he held on to his horse’s reins. He could no longer feel the thing he clutched so tightly, let alone his hands. His mind so focused on following the soldiers…_Too_ focused to realize-!

_Flop! PLOP!_

He fell off his horse and landed in the snowy ground. The horse running off without him.

Caesar tried to get up, but found he couldn’t. His legs-! He glanced down at them, much to his horror, finding that his feet were black!

“C-..Eeess-Her…” Came a voice near him. He looked, finding a snow-covered Maurice next to him. The human child they found earlier was still wrapped in his arms but her blue lips and grayness around her closed eyes told him she was dead. Maurice appeared to be stuck to her, his arms frozen around her little body.

He had fallen off his horse too, just a little ways away from him.

Rocket and Luca had jumped off of their own horses, more concerned with their king and friend than the lost trail.

But the gorilla and balding chimp weren’t too far from the state Maurice and Caesar were currently in. The only difference being the fact they could still stand, but only barely.

They lost them. The soldiers have disappeared into the snow. They may have lost them hours ago and haven’t noticed until now…Maybe they’ve been going in circles this whole time and didn’t even know it.

The soldiers were gone…So were their horses…There was no way out of this storm and the girl was already dead…Caesar knew he and his friends were following soon after her…They were all freezing to death out here.

“G-Go...” He wheezed with a shaky breath.

Luca and Rocket looked at him with shock.

“Go.” Caesar repeated. “S-Save. Yourselves.”

He watched their expressions change from confusion to hurt. He could feel their pain. Both apes were his brothers, easily two of the most loyal of his apes. Caesar knew what he was asking of them was something they’d never do.

Rocket, shaking from the unrelenting coldness, choked out one word: “N-No...”

“We. Not. Leave. You.” Luca was never one for displaying emotion, but he sounded sad. Like he was holding back tears.

“Please.” Caesar felt it too. The sting of tears. “I don’t…Want you two…T-To die too.” At this point, Caesar knew he and Maurice were the closest to dying. But if

Rocket and Luca still had a chance, he wanted them to take it.

Both apes stayed where they were. _Defying _their leader for the very first, and last, time.

“GO!” Caesar forced the roar out of his throat. This was an order, a command. They didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Luca and Rocket glanced at each other before they, slowly with defeat, walked away. Knowing it was hopeless to try to talk Caesar out of his choice.

Watching them go, Caesar blinked and the tears escaped. Becoming ice on his face in seconds. “I’m sorry…M-Maurice.” He whispered as he laid his head down.

_He_ did this. He abandoned his son and the colony for revenge and in doing so, brought Maurice to his death. And that child, the little girl he had convinced Caesar to bring with them, had died too.

It was all his fault…Their deaths were his fault.

As he closed his eyes, he thought he heard Maurice say something but all he caught was ‘stay with you’.

_Stay with me?_ It was the last question he’d ever ask.

Luca and Rocket didn’t get far. They walked for less than five minutes before they, wordlessly, went back the way they’d came. Back to their now dead friends. They collapsed into the snow next to them, unable to walk another step any longer. Rocket forced his frozen hand to wrap around Caesar’s harden one while Luca kept his gaze at the dead king.

The five bodies were buried under the snow. It wasn’t until two days later that they were found by the AO soldiers and Donkeys while on patrol. The medics believed their cause of death was Hypothermia and Frostbite. It certainly was happy news to the ears of the Colonel and the soldiers.

The ape colony was captured and enslaved. They didn’t believe it when they were told their king had died until they saw his body. With Caesar, Luca, Maurice and Rocket dead, no one could save them from their fate.

No one could stop the Colonel.


	18. Muffled Scream

Description: When he's left alone, what does Preacher think about?

No warnings apply to this one-shot.

~~~~~~~

Preacher barged into the bunker, shaking with anger and despair. His ears were aching and feeling hot while his eyes bubbled with tears while his heart pounded in his chest.

He couldn’t believe he just saw that!…That he was on the same team as these-! Those!

He collapsed on his cot and literally screamed into his pillow, hoping it would muffle the sound. The last thing he _needed_ was anyone hearing him lose it.

Preacher was loyal to the Colonel. He viewed him almost like a father figure. He needed that, having never known his own father. To some degree, McCullough was the closest thing to a hero that the young soldier ever had in his life.

But sometimes…_Sometimes! _It was just _too_ much!

Preacher’s family, or rather the elderly couple he knew only as ‘Nana’ and ‘Ron’, feared both apes and the virus just as much as most survivors did but they weren’t as extreme about it as the Colonel.

Ron was one of the few Zoologists and Anthropologists left, and he told him a lot about ape and primate behavior while Nana was very spiritual about animals. She in particular always said that humans and all animals were meant to live peacefully-not together but live peacefully as in, being respectful of each other’s territories and homes, and letting them live their lives. Not killing or taking animals to live in zoo’s unless it was absolutely necessary.

Sometimes Preacher felt like it was those very beliefs that sealed Nana’s fate. She never stood a chance against the ape that killed her…Neither did Ron, who suffered from something called Parkinson’s Disease. If Nana wasn’t doomed, Ron was a sitting duck.

But despite having lost them to apes, and despite being loyal to the Colonel, the things Nana and Ron taught him was still there. Some part of Preacher still held on to what they instilled in him. Maybe it was just the ramblings of an elderly couple hanging on to what little sanity they had, but it was all Preacher had left of them. It was _part _of him.

It made it so much harder to stand there and watch the ape children be separated from their parents, and to stand by while other apes, who supposedly left Caesar’s colony, get the AO mark burned into their flesh like cows.

Nana and Ron would never approve of this. If they were still alive and knew this was happening, they would be outraged…And if they knew Preacher was involved in it, they would be disappointed in him…

The soldiers and the Colonel all said his ‘family’ were crazy. Delusional and sick people…And maybe that was true…But Nana and Ron were also kind, forgiving and generous people. They were good people…Too good for this world…Or maybe the world just didn’t have a place for people like them anymore.

Losing them made him want revenge on the species that killed the only family he ever known…But the baby chimps, bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas in that pen were innocent of the crime. Hell, he didn’t even know if the apes who killed them had anything to do with Caesar’s colony.

What he saw just now reminded him of that.

Apes…_innocent apes_ who weren’t the ones who killed his family…being strung up on crosses. _Used _for target practice! Their, already horribly injured and crippled bodies, getting bullets blasted in them without any chance of defense or escape!

Their bodies are still out there…Left as scarecrows…For what? The remaining apes in the base? Or any ape or human that passes by?

Even the Donkeys seemed troubled by it.

Preacher screamed into the pillow until he was out of energy. All he could do then was fall asleep. The pillow that muffled his screams now cradled his head as he rested against it. Falling into a dreamless nap.

Only to be awoken hours later. Apparently, the scarecrows didn’t scare off anyone…Only _attracted_ someone to their base.

Caesar had been captured.


	19. Asphyxiation

Description: What if Caesar didn't get to question Winter on time? What if it wasn't the enraged ape king that killed the traitor?

WARNING: This one-shot contains suicidal actions and implied suicide. If this triggers you, please don't read!

~~~~~~~~

_What has become of me? What have I become?_

He messed up…No, he _majorly screwed_ up! Winter wasn’t stupid, he knew he made the worst mistake of his entire life. Worse than all the times he snuck out of practice and got caught and all the times he botched up a hunt.

Oh no, this couldn’t compare with those times…All his past mistakes were innocent and almost laughable next to this.

His life before…The Colony, all his friends and comrades, his home, his freedom, his place in the Colony…He traded it all away…Betrayed his people. Caused other apes to _die_! With Caesar possibly being one of them! And for what? His own survival? The smallest chance he may survive based on the words of a traitor?!

He should have never listened to Red, he understood that now. He should have known he couldn’t be trusted after he killed Grey.

_But you did._ He scolded himself._ You let Red, and so many other apes, walk all over you._

As he stared at his reflection, Winter thought about his parents. How outraged and disappointed they would be if they knew what he had done…How he _ruined_ his mother’s dreams of him carrying on his father’s legacy…A legacy he _broke_.

Winter could barely hold back the tears. He had brought _shame_ on his family.

Now he had no one and nothing.

He knew he could never show his face in the colony again after betraying them. If Caesar truly been one of the apes to die in the attack, than Blue Eyes and Cornelius would never forgive him…_No one_ would forgive him. His other option didn’t seem any better. Stay with the soldiers, continue to be called a donkey and become just another treacherous ape, no different than Red…He briefly thought about escaping. Becoming a fugitive and traitor to both sides…But what if the Colonel _did_ win? What if the colony caught him?

It didn’t matter if he stayed or not. He’ll be hunted by both the humans and the apes and if either one caught him, he’d be killed for his treachery.

…There was no way out…Nothing left for him…

Feeling tears of regret and self-loathing, Winter knew what he was going to do.

Slowly, he left the dishes in the sink and looked around for some rope. He wanted to do this quietly, without any of the soldiers noticing.

He was shaking when he finally found a long enough rope. He let the blur of tears temporarily bling him as he tied the rope to the ceiling…

…Then…He felt the noose around his neck…

_I’m sorry Mother…I’m sorry Father… _He thought in despair, preparing himself for the last jump._ Please take me._

He jumped.

Maybe it was his imagination. Maybe it was just a trick of the light. But, as Winter choked with asphyxiation, he thought he saw Caesar standing there. Watching him.

He never got find out if it was really Caesar or his ghost.


	20. Trembling

Description: What was living all alone in that old cabin like for Bad Ape?

No warnings apply to this one-shot.

~~~~~~~~~

Another cold night...Just like all the other nights in his lonely home.

A gust of wind blew through one of the broken windows, causing Bad Ape to pull his blanket closer to him. He dropped something and quickly picked it back up, bringing it to his face. 

His only companion was the stuffed toy that used to belong to his child. It was all he had left of him, the only thing that reminded him that life wasn’t always so lonesome. That there was once a time when he was happy. Maybe he wasn’t free, maybe the humans he lived with weren’t very nice to him, but they were nice enough to let him live and give him food and give him a purpose. And, despite all the hardships they had at the zoo, he was happy.

Now he was free but he had no family, no friends, no one to talk to. Nothing to do but leave daily to look for food to steel and steel it before the humans noticed. 

It’s hard to be happy when there’s nothing to be happy about and no one to be happy with.

Trembling, he closed his eyes. Ready for sleep to take him away.


	21. Laced Drink

Description: What happened to Ellie and Alex after Malcom went to talk to the Colonel?

WARNING: This one-shot contains (implied) character death.

~~~~~~~

_Your name is Ellie._ She told herself. _You’re from San Francisco. You had a daughter named Sarah. She died of the virus. Your husband’s name is Malcolm and your stepson’s name is Alex. Your husband is...Where is he? She glanced around at the cottage walls. Where are we? Why are we here?_

Alex was drawing in his sketchbook, though his drawing and hand writing abilities appeared to be different somehow. Not as neat and purposeful as before.

“Are you sure this is necessary?” Asked the lady who took the two in. “They don’t seem dangerous.”

“They aren’t.” The man next to her replied. “But the disease they carry is. It could whip out humanity-turn us into animals and shit.”

“Don’t use that language in this house!” Barked the lady. She was elderly, possibly in her seventies, with short, curly grey hair and glasses that covered her blue eyes.

The man rolled his brown eyes. “The point is they have to die and if you don’t do it then I will.” He said as he crossed his arms at her. The AO tattoo just barely hidden under his thick, brown beard.

The lady glanced at the woman and teenager again before taking a deep sigh. “I’ll make some cookies and hot chocolate.” She finally answered in defeat. “Give them one last treat.”

“Make it a good batch.” Replied the man.

Meanwhile, Alex continued to draw-or scribble nonsense in his sketchbook while Ellie kept looking around the cottage. At the laced patterns on the furniture and the many pictures of cats and dogs on the walls.

The place smelled like gingerbread. It reminded Ellie of something...A book she used to read. What was it called again? Something about a candy house with an old lady living in it?

“Here you go, Dear,” The lady said as she placed a tray down in front of her and Alex. “I thought you might like some cookies and hot chocolate.”

Alex took one look at the cookies and immediately grabbed one of them. Wolfing it down in seconds. If he was that hungry why didn’t he say so?

Ellie took her hot cup-a light blue mug with a flower design on one side and filled to the brim with tiny marshmallows. “Huhhh...Uuhhh.” She tried to say ‘thank you’ but it wasn’t coming out right. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t-!

The lady only smiled at her. A gentle, understanding smile. “It’s ok. You’re welcome.” With that, she retreated back into the kitchen where the man was. Was he related to her? They didn’t look alike. Him with his beard, tattoos and dark grey and green outfit and her with her blue dress with pink and yellow flowers on it and her white apron.

Glancing back at Alex, who at this point had eaten three more of the many cookies, she noticed for the first time the dried blood under his nose. Where did that come from?

Too hungry to ask, she blew on her cup and took a sip.

The man and lady watched from the kitchen...Watching as Ellie drank her laced drink and the boy ate the equally laced cookies. The lady made sure there was enough poison in the sweets and hot drinks to kill four horses.

They wouldn’t last the night.


	22. Hallucination

Description: Koba haunts Caesar...But it's not always a nightmare. (hinted Caba)

No warnings apply for this one-shot.

~~~~~~~

“Caesar.”

The voice woke up Caesar from a dreamless slumber. It was the very voice he could never forget, no matter how hard he tried. His heart skipped a beat as he turned his head…Seeing_ him_ there.

“K-Koba…!”

The apparition smiled down at him. A sad, bittersweet smile.

Caesar practically jumped out of the nest and pulled the scarred bonobo into the tightest hug he’d ever given. Shaking with tears as Koba returned the tight embrace.

Before all of this, long before Cornelius was born, Caesar and Koba were together. He was married to Cornelia, but Caesar found there was room in his heart for the scarred ape who was robbed so horribly of the feeling. It was no secret in the colony that Koba loved Caesar. That his heart belonged to the king. But no one knew the Ape King felt the same for him or how deep their love went.

It had been their beautiful secret. Their private, little love story.

But the love story ended abruptly and in the worst possible way when the humans came…And when Koba…

“I missed you.” Breathed Caesar as he nuzzled his cheek to Koba’s.

“I missed you too.” Whispered the bonobo. He looked and sounded so much different than the last time Caesar saw him. No more hatred, no more anger. Only sad…Deeply, deeply sad.

It drove Caesar nuts. It hurt so bad knowing he was the one to kill his beloved Koba. “I’m sorry.” He whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“Caesar.”

“No-! I’m sorry! I’m sorry-I! Didn’t know! You were hurting!” Caesar couldn’t help but hold him tighter, feeling as if Koba may leave him again. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you! I-I!”

“Caesar?!”

He froze. Blinking in surprise at the voice. Caesar turned around, surprised to find Cornelia sitting up in the nest and staring up at him. Her face twisted with concern for her husband.

_“Are you ok?”_ She asked.

Caesar looked back at Koba…Only…

Koba was gone. He was never there at all…Did he dream it? Or was just a hallucination?

Fresh tears stung his eyes and Caesar couldn’t hold back a sob. He ran to his wife’s arms and cried.

…He never got to tell him he loved him…Not in life, and not even in death…


	23. Bleeding Out

Description: How did Will and Caroline die?

WARNING: This one-shot contains character death. 

~~~~~

Will tried. He tried so hard to find a cure to the monster he created.

Caroline had been helping him in the beginning but as time went by, she saw less and less of the man he was. He became a shell of his former self. Depressed and empty. And remorseful of everything. She often found him holding a picture of Caesar and Charles while he slept. It was the only thing that helped him sleep at night.

It didn’t take long for him to get infected too. They had thought that since he was the one that created the virus, Will would be immune to its effects...But they were wrong. So horribly wrong. 

Despite the illness, despite the terrible tole it took on him, Will refused to give up. No matter how bad his body ached, no matter how sick he felt, no matter how much blood was coming out of him, he never stopped looking for a cure. 

It finally happened one day. They both it would come but Caroline never expected it to be so sudden. 

There was a thud that woke her up. She had gotten the virus from him, which was slowly killing her as well. 

“Will?” Caroline called. When he didn’t answer, she rolled out of bed and crawled to his office. 

Only to find him on the floor. Bleeding out of his mouth and nose on to the floor...Dead. 

Caroline stared at his corpse. At first in shock, then the tears came. She dragged herself closer and held him in her arms. Crying over his body as she did. 

But Caroline wasn’t sure if she was crying for Will, or if she was crying because she knew the end was near...The end of her and Will’s dreams together, and the end of...Of everything else.


	24. Secret Injury

Description: Pope's "Never show weakness" thinking has gone to his head and he takes it too far.

WARNING: This one-shot contains self-harm. If this triggers you, don't read!

~~~~~~

He did it again...He showed weakness...Now he had to punish himself.

Pope had a secret bad habit. He only did it at night, when he knew no one would see. He wasn’t sure what they’d do if they found out he did it but he knew they’d never look at him the same way again.

He looked around to make sure he was well and truly alone before taking the sharp arrow piece from the ground.

_You stupid ape! You should know better!_ He told himself as he put the blade to his old scars.

His fishnet scars offered a good hiding place for the cuts. If he did it carefully enough, he could make them look like they belonged to the original scar. All he’d have to do was hide it as it healed and no one would know the difference.

He cried out when the sharp blade cut through his skin. As part of the habit, Pope looked at the fresh mark he gave himself. He couldn’t suppress a whimper as he stared at his blood.

Pope could look at blood with no problem but the sight of his own blood reminded him of bad memories. _Too many_ bad memories.

Shaking, he quickly covered it up with a bandage and hid the blade in his quarters. With that, he flopped onto his nest and cried himself to sleep.

The blood from his secret injury still haunting his mind.


	25. Humiliation

Description: How far would the Colonel go? What if he went so far, that it shook all who followed him?

WARNING: Ok, I'm just gonna say it. This one-shot is about abortion-more specifically, a part of abortion that is rarely acknowledged in debates. The fact that here in the U.S, we have the right to say 'no'. Whatever your opinion is on abortion, I ask you to please keep it to yourself because this one-shot is not in any way shape or form meant to start up a whole debate over the matter.

Other warnings for this one-shot includes violence, cursing and hints of murder and torture. If any (including the abortion part) disturbs you, don't read (and please don't spam me with pro-choice or pro-life messages because (again) that is not the point of this one-shot and it's only a one-time thing).

~~~~~~~

It wasn’t often that McCullough would call a meeting at night...Even more unusual for him to call a meeting with the soldiers AND the Donkeys. But that’s exactly what happened that night.

It was the very first night they spent at the base. Caesar’s colony was captured and imprisoned in the pens. The base had been relatively quiet by far, until the Colonel called all the soldiers and all the donkeys to the front of his quarters.

Preacher was half marching, half dragging his feet on the ground. More asleep than awake at this point. He didn’t even know the Donkeys were also woken up until he heard the all too familiar grunts of Red. The rusted furred gorilla wasn’t any better than him, as he looked like he was about to fall asleep standing up.

The fact that the Donkeys were involved in this should have been a warning to what was about to come.

“What does a traitor look like?!”

McCullough’s booming voice woke the two and all other sleep-deprived zombies, human and ape alike, up.

The Colonel stared at the crowd, waiting for an answer before repeating himself. “I said, WHAT! Does a TRAITOR look like?!”

There was a murmur in the crowd before Boyle, who was rightfully confused over the question, shockingly answered: “A…Donkey, sir?”

“WRONG!!!” Shouted the Colonel in rage before turning his head at someone they couldn’t see. “Bring her out here!”

Suddenly, two soldiers came out of the shadows. Dragging a third soldier forward and then throwing her onto the snow-covered ground. Right at the feet of the other soldiers and Donkeys.

Preacher and Red were now fully awake, staring in shock at who this was.

Amy. Amy with her blond hair tied back in her ponytail. She had bruises all over her face, but there was no denying it was her.

Amy was a younger solder, though she was just a couple years older than Preacher. She was one of the few nicer soldiers in the base and he looked up to her as a sister. She was also one of the Colonel’s best solders.

How could she be a traitor? The only bad thing Preacher had ever known her to do was that she was secretly friendly to Red and the Donkeys and often smuggled extra food for them if she felt they weren’t given enough. But that hardly seemed treacherous to him.

But then-!

“This DISGUSTING SLUT had the gulls to HAVE SEX WITH A FUCKING DONKEY!!!” The Colonel’s rage was crystal clear now. His face was so pink that it looked like he may pop blood vessel.

As he yelled those words, the confusion gave way to shock and then anger as the other soldiers slowly began to realize what had happened.  
Red’s head darted from the Colonel to the other Donkeys. Out of shock, Preacher looked too.

Realizing for the first time they were one short of the Donkeys.

“Who’s missing?” He whispered urgently to Red.

“Lorence.” The gorilla whispered back, his gaze turning back as the Colonel started yelling again.

“But the worst part?! The most REPULSIVE! HUMILIATING! Part!”

Preacher was loyal to the Colonel to a fault but the man was changing before his eyes. McCullough’s angry eyes were practically popping out of his now reddened face. Growing more enraged by the second. It honestly scared Preacher but he couldn’t do anything more than stare at him.

He kicked and stomped on Amy’s already beaten form. “That FUCKING ANIMAL got this WHORE FUCKING PREGNANT! AN APE! GOT A HUMAN PREGNANT!”

At this point, the soldiers and Donkeys were all reacting with everything from gasps to shouting. The sounds of shrieks and hooting told them that the ape colony was hearing this too but no one seemed to care. Only Preacher and Red remained silent. Confusion and shock weren’t enough to describe what they felt. They weren’t sure if they heard the Colonel right.

“Humans and apes should NEVER MIX!” McCullough went into a tirade of curses and insults, some of which Preacher never heard of. Shouting and screaming them out at the army. in time even the soldiers who were the most enraged by the revelation seemed frightened of their leader.

This wasn’t normal rage for the Colonel. This was something else.

“As punishment for their treason, BOTH Amy and the Donkey WILL DIE!” The Colonel glanced at Amy, glaring at her.

Amy stared back at him. Her bruised and battered face and messy hair made seem to much different that the Amy Preacher had known. Red and the Donkeys stared at  
Amy more than they listened to the Colonel’s rant. They could never trust a soldier completely but Amy was the closest thing to a human friend they had.

They tried not to show it too much but it was hard not to feel some concern for the lone soldier who took pity on them.

“But first.” The Colonel’s tone was darker now. _Colder_. It filled Preacher’s stomach with dread. “She will suffer the consequences.” He turned back to the two men who had dragged Amy out. “Bring her to the infirmary and tell the medics to perform an abortion!”

There was a loud gasp from the army, each soldier suddenly looking shocked.

“No!” Yelled Amy, finally saying something.

It was as if a switch went off. McCullough suddenly whirled around and violently yanked her hair with both hands. “YOU LOST THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE YOU FUCKING WHORE!” He shouted in her face before slamming her into the ground. “This is a PARASITE!” He yelled at the army, pointing at Amy’s abdomen. “An ABOMINATION to humans and apes! It DESERVES TO DIE! I WANT IT DESTROYED!”

Preacher was frozen. Staring at the Colonel with wide, horrified eyes. There was always a frightening aspect of the man. The young soldier had seen him do terrible things to other humans…But this?…This?…He couldn’t comprehend it!

Amy was dragged away by the two men. She tried to struggle but her legs appeared to be broken, as she couldn’t seem to move them.

All eyes watched the men take her away in stunned silence. It was hard to know what the other soldiers were thinking and feeling but all of them appeared to be too shocked to say anything.

“Let this be a lesson to all of you.” The Colonel suddenly said, getting everyone’s attention again. He was calm now, still angry but calmer. How could he be so calm after all that?

“Humans and apes should NEVER mix. If any of you soldiers have romantic relations with an ape, Donkey or otherwise, you will BOTH be killed…” His eyes met the eyes of his army. “But for you soldiers, the punishment may be more severe.”

With that, they were dismissed…Though no one felt like going back to sleep anytime soon.

It wasn’t too hard to figure out what happened to Lorence. Apparently, he was one of them apes chosen for target practice and had died along with them…Just like his enslaved counterparts, he was used as an example…An example to all apes. Both the enslaved, and the Donkeys.

Amy had the abortion…And then she was reportedly killed shortly after. The only people in the entire base that had seen the…_thing_, as many called it as apposed to ‘fetus’ or ‘child’ or what the Colonel called an ‘abomination’, were the medics and the Colonel himself.

No one wanted to know the details but if there were any remains at all, they were destroyed.

Preacher felt uneasy and scared ever since. It was only later that day, after the soldiers did their…Target practice…He sought out Red, finding him watching the enslaved colony work. “I need to talk to you.” He whispered harshly at the gorilla before leading him some feet away.

Red followed quietly, knowing exactly what this was about.

Once they were a good distance away from the other soldiers, Preacher turned to look at the large ape. “I have to ask…Did you know about…You know, Lorence and Amy?”

“No.” Red answered. “Did. Preacher?”

“No, I didn’t.” Preacher glanced around. Checking one last time that no one was overhearing them before he asked his next question.

“I know you don’t follow Caesar anymore but, like…If If an ape and a human fell in love and…Well, were expecting a kid…” He found it hard to say pregnancy after what happened. “Would he…Would Caesar kill them?”

Red was surprised by the question, have not expecting the young soldier to ask something like that. Still, it made him think back to the days before the war. Back when he still lived in the colony. His thick eyebrows frowned as he mulled over the question in his head.

“…Don’t know. What Caesar do.” He finally answered. “But know. He not kill them.” That was about as honest an answer the rusted furred gorilla could come up with. He really didn’t know what his former leader would do in that situation but he was certain the Ape King would not resort to murder…Or enforce the female to have an abortion…Whatever that was.

Preacher nodded in understanding. “Ok…That was all I wanted to know.” With that, Preacher started to leave.

He wasn’t expecting Red to have a question of his own. “Preacher. Scared?”

Preacher swallowed. He was hoping no one would ask but he supposed it was better if the question came from Red than a soldier. Sighing, he looked back at the Donkey. “Honestly?…I think I’m more afraid now…Than I ever was of you apes…” He had never been more sure of anything else in his life. “…Do you feel the same?” He finally asked.

He thought that would be a stupid question to ask Red of all people. The gorilla never showed any emotion. Not when the soldiers first caught him and not when he and Preacher and the other soldiers were captured by Caesar. It seemed as if nothing scared Red-or that Red wasn’t capable of being afraid.

So the answer he got from the gorilla surprised him.

“…Yes.” Sighed Red.

The two stared at each other. Neither of them knowing what to say next. The young soldier and turncoat gorilla were unified by fear…But they didn’t know if they were afraid because of the fact that humans and apes could, potentially, reproduce together or of the level of brutality and cruelty displayed from the Colonel.


	26. Abandoned

Description: What if the colony gave up on Caesar? What if, after all that's happened, they were the ones that left him?

WARNING: This one-shot includes major plot change and hint of major character death.

~~~~~~~

They had enough.

After so many losses and so much agony and heartache, the colony had enough. They took everything they’d need and got on their horses.

But it isn’t Caesar leading them…It was Rocket.

The Colonel had attacked the fortress the night before and killed Cornelia, Blue Eyes, Maurice, and many other apes…Including his beloved Tinker, the only family Rocket had left.

Caesar had wanted revenge. That wasn’t surprising. But the colony was done. More than half of them were beginning to rethink Caesar’s rule. They didn’t necessarily agree with Red and the traitors that Koba had been right but they no longer wanted Caesar as their leader.

So…Early that next day, they left.

Caesar had watched from the trees. He couldn’t stop them…He _knew_ they wouldn’t listen.

The only one to offer him any sympathy was Lake. But her parents forced her to go with them. Caesar only asked of one thing from her. That she’d care for Cornelius, the lone survivor of the royal family aside from himself of the attack.

It hurt Caesar more than everything else to know that he and Cornelius would now be separated forever but he hoped that maybe he’d be safe in the colony…Safer _without_ him.

And so Caesar watched, a broken shell of his former self, as all his former friends and followers…The very apes he had once freed and called his family...Abandoned him.

Abandoned him. Like Will.

For days after that, he wandered aimlessly in the forest. Feeling more empty than the now deserted city.

He had wished several times that it had been him who had died in the attack…Him who the Colonel took from the apes. Maybe that way, his wife, son and friends would still be alive…

And all the other apes would have still loved him…And maybe then, he wouldn’t be hurting so much…At least in death, one can’t be abandoned.

No one knows what became of Caesar after the colony abandoned him. After it became apparent that the Ape King wasn’t in any hurry to rescue his apes after the colony was captured, the Colonel sent a couple of the soldiers and Donkeys back to the forest to locate him.

Those soldiers need up being the only AO army members to survive the war and the Donkeys that came with them were known as the only apes from Caesar’s colony to still be alive.

Not knowing what else to do or where else to go, they reluctantly stayed in the forest. Living out the rest of their days in a village they build together but steered clear of the ruins of the Ape Village…

…They say that if you go there and sit very still on the old rock with the circle carved in it, you can almost hear someone crying…

They believe it’s haunted by Caesar’s ghost.


	27. Ransom

Description: What if Jacobs used Caesar to get Will to work on the A113?

No warnings apply for this one-shot.

~~~~~~~

_Bmmm! Bmmmm!_ His phone vibrated. He picked it up, smirking when he saw the name on the screen.

“Will?” He answered as he placed the phone to his ear.

“Where is he?” The voice demanded.

Jacobs fined confusion. “Who?”

“Caesar!” Will shouted from the phone. “My son! What did you do with him?! _Why_ do you have him?!”

Jacobs chuckled at his scientist. “You mean the chimpanzee you stole?”

Will went silent.

“Oh Will, please. He was never yours. He has always been company property-“

“He’s MY son!”

“He is an APE. An animal. No different than the stray cats and dogs dying in the streets  
everyday.” The wasn’t a very fair comparison. Strays lived a more merciful lives compared to the ones animals in the labs did but Jacobs didn’t care about that.

Jacobs only became aware of Caesar’s existence after he suspected Will of theft. Some of the A12 capsules went missing when they were supposed to be destroyed,  
which made Will an immediate suspect. Since Franklin was the closest to him, he was the one Jacobs had interrogated for any information about Will.

That was how he found out about Caesar.

Not too long after that, he became aware of the…_Incident_ between the chimp and Will’s neighbor-which resulted in a short trip to the San Bruno Primate Shelter.

“Listen Rodman, I know what that thing did t your neighbor. I could sue you for stealing Gen-Sys property and unauthorized use of an experimental drug on a human being!” Oh yeas, he also knew about Charles being the one getting the A112 drug from Will. If he was right, next to these other charges Will was currently facing for the attack, he could look at a hefty fine…Maybe even jail time.

He knew Will was probably thinking the same thing right then.

“Or.” He said in a sickening tone. “You can continue with the A113 drug trials, I’ll help pay off those charges, and we can forget all about this theft.”

Meanwhile, Will was sitting in his car. He wasn’t sure where he was going right then. He had called Jacobs the second he left the shelter, having just found out that Caesar was no longer there, and got in his car. He may have had the thought to go straight to Gen-Sys and confront his boss there but…But now he wasn’t sure.

He really didn’t want the A113 to become a drug. It was more than just the fact that it failed to save his father. He had this horrible feeling…

Every person on the planet has a voice deep within them. This voice is silent most of the time but when it does talk, it tends to say ‘this a bad idea’, ‘I shouldn’t do this’, ‘this is wrong’ and various other phrases that mean the same.

Will hadn’t heard his inner voice as strongly as he did the time he stared at a broken glass shard on the floor and thought ‘I better not touch this’ when he nine. But no one really forgets how strong that voice is.

That very voice was the thing that held him back right now. By all appearances, the A113 didn’t seem dangerous. The results from Koba’s blood work and other apes didn’t give any red flags and just about everyone involved was ready to present it as a miracle drug. A cure for Alzheimer’s…Just like Will had originally wanted all along.

But it felt wrong…So very wrong!

On the other hand, Jacobs had him between a rock and a hard place: If he made it known that he had stolen from Gen-Sys, both Caesar and the A112 capsules, it would mean he’d lose his job AND possibly get another change added for his court date. He could only imagine lawsuits, possibly a felony or two and maybe be sent to jail for who knows how long.

He was being blackmailed and he knew it. “Where is Caesar now?” He asked, the anger evident in his voice.

“He’s in a cage in the lab-just like the rest of his kind.” He heard Jacobs chuckle again. “Far from the luxuries he’s accustomed to-“

“Jacobs, I know you don’t see him as anything more than an animal but he’s still my son and I swear, if you so much as touch him I am going to-“

“Oh what are you going to do? _Sue_ me?” He laughed again.

Will breathed air though his nose. “Please.” His tone was lower this time. “I will literally pay you money if it means you’d spare him.”

It wasn’t likely to work, but Will knew his boss well enough to know he was the real-life version of Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob. He’d never refuse a deal that included  
money and Will was more than willing to pay ransom if it meant saving Caesar’s life.

The line went silent as Jacobs considered it. “Fine.” He finally said.


	28. Beaten

Description: Rocket is a strong ape...But strong apes can still be broken by abuse.

WARNING: This one-shot is about spousal abuse-more specially, males being the victims of abuse. I'm not sure how common male victims of abuse are to abuse but they are less likely to come forward than a female victim. Hopefully this one-shot can bring some awareness to that.  
The warning? Spousal abuse is depicted here. If this makes you uncomfortable, don't read!

~~~~~

It started to rain as they neared the village after their most recent hunt.

With most of the apes focused on staying warm and getting home quickly, Rocket purposely took his time. Lagging behind to ensure that.

At the corner of his eye, Rocket spotted Koba glancing at him...More specifically, the marks on his skin. His face a mix of confusion and concern.

He wasn’t the only one, as Caesar had been glancing at him the entire hunt. Giving the same facial expression as Koba...So was Luca, and Stone and Grey. It seemed as though everyone has been looking at him like that lately. Some ask about them but others, those who already tried and failed at that, just look on.

Even some of the younger apes, like Blue Eyes, Winter and Ray, had noticed and couldn’t help but stare at the marks.

Of course they’d all notice them. What little fur he had was no where near enough to hide the old and healing bruises, bite marks and scratches that littered his skin.

Rocket wished they’d all just ignore them, like him. Just pretend the marks aren’t there...That it didn’t hurt every time someone touched him...That he didn’t bruise like a banana...That everything was fine...

...But nothing was fine...Every step his horse took towards the village, the more scared and alone he felt inside.

If the bruises weren’t eye-catching enough, Ash had stopped hunting with them. The only other person aside from him to be as sad about it as he was had to be Blue Eyes, but not at all as scared.

_...If only. _Thought Rocket, bitting his lip-which hurt a sore spot and prompted him to stop. _If only he knew...If only they all knew..._

When they finally arrived at the village and began to get off of their horses, Rocket stole himself and glanced at Caesar, who was signing with Blue Eyes and Koba.

Part of him begged him to go over to them. To seek the comfort of his honorary brothers and nephew. He wanted it so badly, he almost jumped off his horse with the intent of approaching.

But something held him back…Shame…

What would they think if they found out? Would they believe him at all?…Rocket could practically feel the shame and humiliation creeping up on him as he tried to block out the image of his closest friends mocking him for his weakness.

No, they couldn’t know…If they did, they won’t help him…

…If the colony knew what was happening, Rocket could never show his face in the village again…

Swallowing hard, he climbed off of his horse and dragged his feet towards his cave. Giving a final, hopeless glance at the group that could be his only sanctuary.

Walking inside the small cave, Rocket prepared himself for what he knew would happen. He and his first wife, Tinker, had chosen this place as their own years earlier. It was the home meant for him and her to raise Ash and be a family. But Tinker died shortly after Ash was born, leaving him and Ash alone.

“ROCKET!!!” Shouted the voice.

Rocket, despite himself, recoiled at the loud tone.

His second and current wife, Lyda, appeared. Her features shadowed by the dark cave.

“Where. You. Been?” She demanded.

Trembling, Rocket sputtered as he tried to form words. Lyda was better at spoken speech than he was and she loved to use it against him. _“I…I. Hunt-“_

Lyda suddenly slapped him across the face, hard. “NO SIGN! TALK!” She yelled before hitting him again, this time causing him to fall to the ground.

Rocket cried out as he covered his bleeding face, pleading with her to stop. This seemed to only make her hoot-laugh at him. “Rocket. Big baby! So stupid!”

That was her favorite thing to call him. Stupid. It was all she thought of him…Just a stupid, waste of space. It hurt almost as much as her blows to his already bruised body.

“LEAVE HIM!” Ash came out of nowhere and grabbed Lyda by her shoulder and yanked her away from his father. Lyda tried to strike at him but Ash was faster and dodged her blow. Standing over his father protectively.

They froze for a moment. Ash and Lyda staring down at each other while Rocket could only watch on.

Finally, Lyda lost interest. “Pathetic.” She repeated before storming out of the cave.

They were safe. Their home wasn’t a prison for the time being.

Ash bent down to his father. He had his own bruises from when Lyda beat him, but his weren’t nearly as bad as Rocket’s. His were from all the times where he would take a beating for Rocket. It was the only way he could try and protect him.

But Rocket could do very little to protect Ash.  
When their eyes met, all of Rocket’s defenses collapsed. He could not hold it in any longer. He wrapped his arms around Ash, and cried. The shame washing over him in waves.

Ash had tears in his own eyes as he hugged his father just as tightly. Nothing hurt him more than seeing his father so beaten and broken.

Lyda used to tolerate the two going hunting but then she slowly became more possessive and domineering to the point where she would not let either of them see their friends. The beatings were getting worse too. At one point, she beat Rocket so badly that his eyes were bruised shut and his arm was sprained-almost broken.

As they hugged each other, Ash thought about his mother...His _real_ mother...He never got to know her but he did know that she loved his father and that she never once raised her hand at him...Nor at him if she were still alive.

The saddest part about this whole thing was that Rocket may have had many wives in the past but there had only been one who he considered his one and only. That was previously Tinker but he had given Lyda that title when they married. He was ready to start over and maybe have more children with her.

But that dream was destroyed. Beaten like Rocket’s body and broken like his heart.

“I-I...M-Miss her...” Rocket chocked out through tears.

Ash sniffled, knowing exactly who he meant. “Me too.”

It wasn’t just Tinker they missed. They missed feeling safe in their home and, more then that, they missed being loved.


	29. Numb

Description: What if Caesar and the ape colony weren't the only slaves in the base? What if the Colonel was far more darker and more evil than they thought?

WARNING: I actually had this idea as a one-shot for a while now but didn't know if I should or shouldn't write/post it so this is kind of an experiment here (it was also meant to be longer but I think it's long enough so some dialogue/scenes were cut for this prompt).

The warning! This one-shot contains implied rape and mention of rape (not seen or detailed) particularly, males being the victim of it. If this makes you uncomfortable, don't read!

~~~~~~~~~~

They survived. The colony was free. The humans who threatened their lives and the base that imprisoned them, were all buried under snow. Gone. Dead. The war was over.

But their troubles were far from over.

The four survivors were surrounded by gorillas wielding spears with Caesar, Rocket and Maurice standing in front of them and the colony surrounding them. Three of them were traitors, Donkeys to the soldiers. Stripe, Red and a female bonobo named Marion. But the last one was the soul human survivor. The only AO soldier still alive. Preacher.

“What were you doing?” Caesar growled at them. But even he wasn’t sure if this was an interrogation or just a trial.

After The Colonel killed himself and Caesar jumped from the balcony, he blew up the wall of the base. In the confusion and chaos that followed soon after, he ran right into the young soldier and three turncoats but they weren’t chasing after him, or after the apes…They were _escaping_ themselves.

The three turncoats stayed silent, only glaring at him in response. Defiant even now.

“I-It was my plan.” Preacher piped up. “I tried to gather up all the Donkeys and leave but…But I couldn’t get to them all in time.”

“Why?” A million possibilities went through Caesar’s head. Was this a deliberate plan to follow the colony and attack them? But even if the other Donkeys did survive, they would still be outnumbered…And none of the four survivors had any weapons. Preacher’s bow and arrows were lost in the avalanche.

“We wasting time talking to them!” Zane, a chimpanzee from behind, suddenly shouted. Hoots and screeches from the apes around them followed.

“Just kill them!” Yelled another ape, Spear’s wife Twilah. This prompted more screeching as the colony all began to call on the soldier’s and traitors deaths.

Preacher’s eyes went wide. “No, wait! I need to tell you-!”

That caught Caesar’s attention. He raised his hand up to silence the other apes, never taking his eyes off of Preacher.

Preacher took this as permission to keep talking. “You can do whatever you want with me but there’s something you need to know, ok? The Colonel did things…Horrible things-!”

“We know. The Colonel was. A bad man.” Caesar tried to hold back the annoyance in his tone. Was the murders of Cornelia, Blue Eyes, Malcolm, Percy, Spear and countless others and the imprisonment of the colony not horrible enough?!  
The young soldier realized his mistake and swallowed hard. Of course the apes were well-aware of that! “But you don’t know everything he’s done-“

“Then. What_ did _he do?!” Rocket suddenly demanded in impatience.

Caesar watched him take a shaky breath…He appeared to be…Scared? Nervous?

“It…” He finally started. “It involves the Donkeys.”

At this, Red, Marion and Stripe looked at him. This being the first time Preacher talked about why he had them leave. But then again, between him waking them up and the other army suddenly attacking and then the base blowing up, the young soldier really didn’t have time to explain anything to them.

Preacher took in another breath. This was harder than he thought. He hadn’t told anyone this until now. “I…I don’t know how long it’s been going on, but like the Donkeys kept getting these weird injuries and they would have alcohol in their systems…Everyone dismissed it as ‘monkeys being stupid and stealing the beer’ but it kept happening and no one was doing anything to stop it.”

Weird injuries? Alcohol? Since when did apes drink that stuff? Caesar glanced from Preacher to the Donkeys, who were all frowning in confusion.  
Was this true?

“…There was something else…” Preacher added, prompting the Ape King to look at him.

“The Donkeys had their own sleeping area…Every night, one of them would have to see McCullough and then hours later…Some soldiers would carry them back to their quarters…”

It was suddenly very quiet. All apes now had their full attention on him. Even the most angry, hate-filled, apes had gone silent.

Preacher swallowed again, feeling all the eyes and ears on him. “I…I asked Marion once if she knew anything about it…And she told me the Colonel had never called for her…And that’s when I realized…She was the only one who never got those wounds, or turned up drunk…All the others…They did…”

Stripe and Red glanced at each other. Preacher was telling the truth as both of them had had those things happen to them plenty of times before but never Marion.

“It became more…Frequent…When we got to the border base…I don’t know if you apes noticed it, but it happened every night…I was suspicious so I…I hid cameras in the Colonel’s office and in the Donkey’s quarters.” Preacher tilted his head at Rocket. “That night…Your bald friend there came…I watched the videos…”

Rocket huffed at him but held his tongue. He was used to humans calling him that.

Caesar noticed a change in the young man when he mentioned the videos. He had previously seemed nervous, but now he…He was shaking.

Preacher felt like he was going to be sick yet somehow he still managed to speak. “…He…He raped him…”

There were some screeches and hoots behind him. Caesar wasn’t sure if he heard the young soldier right. “What?”

“He raped him!” Preacher repeated, loud enough to talk over the sounds. “Colonel McCullough raped Red!”

Caesar now looked at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. He glanced at Rocket, who had the same look on his face.

Humans had always abused and harmed apes. It was the torture from their labs that caused Koba’s insanity. But Caesar had never heard of humans _sexually_ abusing apes before. The very thought of such a thing seemed ludicrous.

Red’s eyes were wide open as he stared at Preacher. Frozen with a shocked, confused look on his face that gradually turned to disgust. Part of him wanted to pound the soldier for making such an accusation. There’s no way a human would do that to him or to any other ape!

But the soldier just kept talking. “N-None of the other Donkeys appeared in the videos but I think there’s a chance they were all raped-“

“You lie!” Yelled Stripe, interrupting him. “He never do that!”  
Caesar looked at the three traitors, curious to see what they thought. Stripe was obviously angry, Red had to be infuriated and Marion was glancing from the gorilla to the chimp, her eyes wide. It was hard to know what she was thinking at that moment.

“Males don’t! Get raped! Someone yelled from behind. “Only females! Get raped!”  
Caesar frowned and turned around to find the owner of that voice but the ape was hidden by the screeching colony.

“If you don’t believe me then answer me this!” Preacher sounded angry by that comment too.  
“While you were enslaved, did any of you see Marion once? If at all?”

The screeches and hoots slowly died down again at his words. Caesar thought back to being in the base. Red wasn’t just there, he actually assisted the Colonel in tormenting him and the apes. Stripe was there too, he was one of the two Donkeys who held him down when he was whipped.

But...Where was Marion? If it wasn’t for the fact that she were here right now, Caesar would have thought she were dead.

After a moment or two, Preacher spoke again. “Out of the eleven Donkeys we had, Marion was the only one who had to do the laundry, wash the dishes, clean the rooms. She was less of a Donkey and more of an ape Cinderella.”  
Caesar was likely the only one to get that reference but the others seemed to understand what he meant.

Red's frown deepened, not from angry this time but from bewilderment. Preacher wasn’t lying about that either. As far as he and Stripe knew, Marion was never tasked with carrying ammunition or with enslaving the colony.

_That doesn’t mean anything._ He told himself. There were some things the male humans wouldn’t let their female counterparts do too…Though none came to mind.

“_And_, again, she never got those wounds, or had alcohol, or never got called to the Colonel’s office.” Preacher’s voice was shaky as he talked. “I don’t know for sure why that is but I think maybe it had something to do with her being female. L-Like maybe he thought that if he raped Marion, she’d get pregnant so he only raped the males.”

That…That was actually a disturbing thought. Caesar still wasn’t sure if he believed a word of this but it did make his skin crawl.

As far as he knew, Marion was the only female among Koba’s followers and if she wasn’t, she certainly was the only female to serve the soldiers as a Donkey. He wasn’t entirely sure why she chose to follow Koba but Marion had always been something of a misfit. While Caesar saw her as a traitor and enemy, he secretly wondered if her becoming a Donkey and following the other loyalists had less to do with Koba and more to do with her just trying to find a place to fit in.

Even if it was with the wrong group of apes.

At this point, Stripe was glaring daggers at the soldier, practically filling with hatred and disgust for the human. Red’s frown seemed more concentrated now, like he was thinking hard about Preacher’s words. Only Marion dared to look at Caesar for the first time.

Caesar stared back at Marion. Could this whole story be an attempt for mercy? A bribe to let them live? It was possible it was all a lie Preacher made up and the three traitors were secretly in on it.

But why would Red agree to lie about something that portrayed him as a victim? None of his previous lies had ever been like that and why would Stripe and Marion go along with some lie like that anyway?

And, despite not trusting Marion, there was genuine concern in her face.

Preacher gave the colony a couple of minutes to mull over his words before continuing. “Now tell me this.” His voice was calmer, shaking but no longer yelling. With the apes now listening to him, he didn’t have to. “Have any of you noticed how much power he gave Red?”

What little noise there was went silent. Even Caesar and Marion broke eye-contact to look at him.

“He allowed Red to whip and torment you apes, he helped the Colonel torture Caesar and-And almost every time McCullough was outside, Red was with him like, like some bodyguard or something.” Those memories, those images. All the times he saw this happen.

It seemed so normal to Preacher back then. It made sense. Red was sort of the leader of the Donkeys so it seemed obvious at the time that he’d be the Colonel’s right-hand ape…But, knowing what he knew now, it made stomach turn just thinking about it.

As Preacher talked, Red’s face slowly changed. Now that he thought about it, the Colonel _did_ treat him differently than he treated the other Donkeys.

“I mean, sure ok he’s a gorilla! He’s stronger and bigger than the other Donkeys. But is that_ really_ why McCullough gave him so much power?” Preacher was thinking back to all the times a Donkey was found drunk with blood coming out of their butts…The more he thought about it, the more he realized that out of all the other Donkey, Red was the one found like that the most often.

The silence was growing more and more uncomfortable. Many of the apes still harbored a deep hatred for Red and many more still carried the whip lashes he gave them…Caesar being one of them…The very idea that the very gorilla that had assisted in their torture and the other traitors like him could have been victims themselves still seemed ridicules to them…

But If what Preacher was saying was true….

“I know they betrayed you.” Preacher started again. “I know you all hate them and…And probably want to kill them…But they were slaves too…The only difference between you apes and the Donkeys is you knew you were slaves and it was hard labor. The Donkeys were _sex _slaves and they didn’t even know it was happening to them.

The whole discovery of the Colonel’s secret made him sick. To think that the very man he looked up to, the man he would have done anything for at one point, could have done this. Preacher had been too shocked and too horrified to confront the Colonel.

His only thoughts was getting the Donkeys out of that situation. He may not have liked apes but they did not deserve that. Especially the ones who had been so loyal to him. The ones that turned down Caesar to follow him.

Now part of him wished he did seek out the Colonel. Corner him with a gun and demand to know why…Though no excuse he could have given would have been enough to justify what he did.

With a sigh, he said one last thing. “Red was the Colonel’s favorite…Literally.”

The second that one word left Preacher’s lips, something happened. A vague, whispery voice echoed in Red’s mind.

_Favorite._

He blinked, confused by the voice that wasn’t his. What?

The voice repeated itself, louder this time.

_You’re my favorite, Donkey_

Red’s eyes went wide again in realization. That voice…_The Colonel’s_ voice! What was it doing in his head?!

Something else came with the voice. A vague, blurred image of…Of feeling his face pressed into a pillow on a human bed in a dark room. Lit only by a lone candle...And the smell…The smell of…Of.

Red, horrified by the image, shut his eyes as his heart pounded with panic. He could feel his fur standing up as he did. He didn’t know what that was that just flashed in his mind but the…_memory?_…gave him an awful, sickening feeling. A feeling he could not describe let alone understand.

_It DIDN’T happen!_ His mind yelled. It had to be a nightmare but no nightmare he ever had made him feel this kind of dread.

The Colonel said he’d let him and the Donkeys live if they served him. But at what price? The AO mark forever branding them as traitors to their species? The word written on their backs? Death if Caesar and the colony won the war and captured them?

Red didn’t want to believe it. He desperately didn’t want to even think that any of this could have happened. But he slowly became numb with emptiness as reality began settling in that maybe...Just maybe...The Colonel wasn’t as honest about his intentions with the Donkeys as he let on.

That maybe Red and the Donkeys really _were _slaves the whole time...Just, not the same kind of slaves as the ape colony were.


	30. Recovery

Description: "Apes are strong...with...or without me." ~ Caesar. He was right.

No warnings apply to this one-shot

~~~~~~~~

The loss of Caesar, Cornelia and Blue Eyes was still raw even after a full two years had passed but the colony wasn’t suffering.

In fact, the colony was thriving in their new home. New homes were being build every day, Cornelius was currently being raised by Lake, Bad Ape have made many friends in the colony and, despite being human, Nova was officially a member of their colony. Considered an honorary ape by everyone. She more than earned it.

But the royal family were never far from the minds of the colony. The huge lake in the center of the oasis was named ‘Blue Lake’ in memory of the lost prince and of the short lived marriage between him and Lake while the tree that Maurice was sitting next to was called ‘Caesar’s Tree’ as it was the place where the beloved king had died under.

Maurice would like to think he was keeping his promise to his old friend. He told Cornelius and the other children stories of Caesar and his legacy in his school. He told them about how Caesar was raised by humans, how he freed the apes from the labs and the zoos, how defeated Koba and how he saved them all from the Colonel.

He also told them about Koba, and about Malcolm, and Luca, and Spear, Blue Eyes, Cornelia, Buck…He even told them about Red and about Winter. Maurice told the children their stories because he wanted them to know the full legacy of their king…And of how one ape’s hate tore their colony apart, and cost them so many lives.

They deserved to know the story…And, try as he might, Maurice could not shake the fear that something like that could happen again…That someday, another Koba will divide the colony and more apes would die.

He could not forgive himself if that were to happen…Even if it were years after his passing, he could not let it happen again.

_Apes are strong._ Came Caesar’s voice. _With or without me._

A tear rolled down Maurice’s cheek. He placed his hand on Caesar’s Tree as he stared at the many colors in the sky.

_We still miss you Caesar._ He thought sadly.

It was a slow recovery, but everyone was fine. The apes were free. They ere all safe. And Cornelius? He’d be alright.

But it was hard sometimes.


	31. Embrace

Description: Caesar only got to have one night with his mother...The night he was born.

WARNING: This one-shot depicts 'a very not detailed and only implied' scene of childbirth. I'm not sure if this would make anyone uncomfortable but if it does, don't read.

~~~~~~~~~

The lab was as good as empty by nightfall. Not safe, but better.

Even so, Bright Eyes was fully aware of her surroundings as she listen intently for any signs of humans approaching. She didn’t know what they’d do if they found her like this but she would not let them get near her.

Another wave overcame her, prompting her to grit her teeth. A reminder at how vulnerable she was at that moment.

If a human came to her right now, she could not fight.

Oh how she wished Alpha was here, he’d protect her and the baby.

Since being here, it was hard to remember what it was like before. Back at home. What she did remember were the endless trees, the sun always shining, and the freedom. That feeling of running and climbing, without walls or humans to stop her. Going as fast and far as she wanted, with the fresh air and whole world all around her.

She knew she would never live like that again…And her child may never know such a life.

As she started panting again, a loud crash came from somewhere in the hallway. Bright Eyes glanced around, her eyes wide with panic. Were the humans coming back?  
Not taking the chance, she heaved her pained body up from the floor and forced her shaking arms and legs to take her to the shelf in her cage and hid underneath.

She tried to keep listening, straining her ears in the process. But another, much stronger pain took over and Bright Eyes could just barely suppress a groan as her body obeyed. Like before, she tried to stay quiet but this particular wave was much stronger and the pain was worse than the last.

The lab remained silent for a while. As far Bright Eyes knew, she was the only ape who wasn’t sleeping. It was easy to assume the crash could have just been some object falling somewhere and wasn’t caused by a human. Maybe one of the other apes caused it by accident.

That possibility gave her hope. Hope that maybe there were no humans around after all.

But her hope was quickly destroyed when she heard footsteps in the hallways. _Human _footsteps.

Scared, she reached a shaking hand beneath her. Feeling. _Almost, just a little more..._

The footsteps came closer. Bright Eyes prepared herself for a fight, her fur bristling and lips pulling back to reveal her teeth and gums. Ready to spill blood if it meant saving her child.

But then, much to her surprise and great relief, the footsteps never approached her. Only continuing down the hallway. Never stopping.

The human _wasn’t _coming for her.

The last of the lights turned off. Now the lab was truly, completely, empty.

Her nerves relaxed for just a short moment before she gave a final push. It had to have been seconds but it felt much longer before she caught her baby and laid back on the blanket.

The little cries calming her pounding heart as she gazed down at him.

He looked like Alpha. Underneath all that goop, his fur was soft and brown. And-what’s that? She gently moved his arm and held his wiggling body in place.

A birthmark…Just like his father…

Bright Eyes felt water drip from her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She did’t know why this was happening but she didn’t care. After feeling nothing but worry and fear for so long, an unspeakable joy took over her being and suddenly she no longer cared that they were in a lab, that the humans would come back in the morning, or how far away she was from home.

She gently nuzzled his cheek, making soft hoots to comfort him and brought the tiny baby to her chest to feed him. In that moment, holding him and watching him suckle, gave her hope. He was her sunshine, her light, her star.

When he was full, he yawned and fell asleep in the safety and warmth of his mother’s loving embrace. Bright Eyes watched him sleep for a bit before laying her head down and closing her eyes. Knowing her baby was safe and that she’d protect him if the humans came.

This would turn out to be the first, last and only time mother and son got to be together.


End file.
